Author Topic: Iced Fairy's Random Shorts (Read 94799 times)

OkashiiKisei · « **Reply #90 on:** August 25, 2012, 11:10:27 PM »

Quote from: Iced Fairy on August 25, 2012, 03:18:25 AM

Bad Okashii, making assumptions by who was more forward. Okuu is the blue yin yang and Orin is the red one.

That means it'll be a cat with fight and nuclear fire powers. Or as I said to Rou.

But how do cats lay eggs? :ohdear:

Hideki · « **Reply #91 on:** August 28, 2012, 11:53:21 AM »

I think in that one chapter where the three fairies of light find an egg, wasn't it a cat youkai egg?

Omegahugger · « **Reply #92 on:** August 29, 2012, 11:36:30 AM »

Quote from: Hideki on August 28, 2012, 11:53:21 AM

I think in that one chapter where the three fairies of light find an egg, wasn't it a cat youkai egg?

I thought it was a Tengu egg that they thought was a cat youkai's. Then again, my memory's kinda spotty at times.

Hideki · « **Reply #93 on:** August 29, 2012, 02:47:07 PM »

Quote from: Omegahugger on August 29, 2012, 11:36:30 AM

I thought it was a Tengu egg that they thought was a cat youkai's. Then again, my memory's kinda spotty at times.

Re-reading Eastern and Bright Nature Deity chapter 5, the egg in question is specifically not a tengu egg. That's when the possibility of it being a cat youkai egg is brought up.

Iced Fairy · « **Reply #94 on:** September 23, 2012, 11:56:05 PM »

Iced Fairy · « **Reply #95 on:** October 11, 2012, 04:54:22 AM »

[This story happens after the events of A New World. If you haven't read that, you'll probably end up lost.

Also it'll be somewhat bloodier then anything I've written before.]

----------------

Remilia gazed up at the crimson moon from the balcony of her mansion. It had been some time... centuries in fact, since she'd last seen the moon in all it's splendour and madness. The crisp autumn air cooled her body with each breath. The wind shifted causing the leaves to rustle in the same familiar way. Yes, tonight was like that one endless night. A night of wonder, and excitement, anger, and above all else....

She shook her head sharply to clear the memories. There were some things she didn't want to remember. Not yet.

"Did a mosquito bite you, big sister?"

Remilia looked across the small table to where her younger sister was sitting. Flandre seemed utterly unconcerned with all the little details that were dragging Remilia into the past. Then again, Flandre's situation had changed a lot since those happy days. In her case though, it was all for the better. Perhaps it was telling that as the world went to hell Flandre found her place in it.

She shook her head again. "It's nothing," she replied. "I merely find myself somewhat nostalgic now and then. I think it's a side effect of torpor." She grinned. "Some snacks should wake me up just fine."

Flandre's smile grew. "Ah right! Snacks! Juri should bring some by soon. And Flopsy should be making some as well."

"That moon rabbit?" Remilia raised an eyebrow. "Has she stopped shivering at the sight of blood?"

"I have no idea!" Flandre giggled. "I really wanna see what she makes!"

"Hmph," Remilia leaned back in her chair. "I hope she provides something of worth. Juri cooks to your tastes. Not mine."

Flandre giggled again. "Because she's my maid." Remilia did her best to ignore the sting those words caused. "Ah, but I did remind her that you liked rare stuff, so she'll probably make some special sweets for you."

"Good." Remilia looked away, out into the gardens. The colors of the leaves weren't visible in the moonlight, but the moon itself glowed pleasantly in the fountain, and several small plants glowed with their own light. After a few minutes tracing the patterns she decided Huian had planted them, though probably at Marisa or Alice's request. While the young girl had Meiling's prejudice towards Chinese herbalism, she was more willing to bow to the magicians' requests. She tried to figure out what Feng Shui pattern Huian was creating with the plants, but she gave up after a while. She'd learned a lot from Meiling about form, but her vampiric heritage kept her mastering chi where blood wasn't concerned.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the clatter of china. Remilia looked back towards the door to see Juri standing there, with Flopsy standing behind her. Apparently Flopsy hadn't mastered the art of walking silently with silverware. "Lady Flandre, Lady Remilia. The tea is ready."

Remilia raised an eyebrow as two tea kettles were placed on the table. "You let her make tea?"

Juri smiled as Flopsy shuffled nervously. "Just the tea itself. I added your normal mixers." Remilia nodded in understanding. Tea preparation was one of the hardest jobs in the kitchen. Adding the blood properly was a fine art. However before that stage, it was just normal tea.

Still, she grabbed the kettle Juri indicated as her own. She'd let Flandre test the rabbit girls cooking.

Her little sister, on the other hand, happily poured herself a cup from the rabbit's pot, and grabbed one cookie from each of the piles of sweets on the table. Remilia watched carefully as Flandre sipped the tea.

Remilia carefully concealed her smile as Flandre grimaced. "Ugh. This is bad." Flandre casually flung the cup off the balcony. Flopsy held the serving tray against herself as a shield as Flandre's smile twitched dangerously. "Juri, you need to teach Flopsy better. Otherwise she's good for nothing but stew." Remilia was about to comment on the cup when she realized there'd been no sound of it breaking. Juri had probably caught it with her doll.

She decided to adopt an air of disdain. The little moon rabbit's terror was amusing, but she didn't want to break the girl. "I told you the moon rabbits were only one step above fairies. You shouldn't leave anything more important then cleaning to them." She carefully sipped her own tea.

As the flavors hit her tongue she was struck with a wave of nostalgia. The tea was so very close to perfect. She remembered the years spent refining this taste. How they'd tried method after method to get the flavor just the way she wanted it. Tweaking the timing, the leaves, the temperature, even the china it was served in and the spoon it was stirred with. Juri's tea was so close to the perfection they had created together. It was just a touch too salty. The way Flandre liked it.

Remilia set the cup aside and grabbed a third cup from the tray. "What are you doing big sis?" Flandre asked as she began to pour from Flopsy's pot.

Remilia ignored the gazes of the other three women. "I'm trying this tea to see what the fuss is about." When she was finished pouring she sniffed the liquid, then sipped.

It was bad, just like Flandre said. It would be passable for some destitute family on the streets, but a noblewoman expected more from her tea. She could taste only the faintest hint of her old recipe for red tea in it. It was possibly as far away from what Sakuya had once made as you could get while still having drinkable tea.

"Terrible," she commented. "You used boiling water instead of near boiling water, and you didn't clean the pot well enough. In addition you let it cool too much afterwards, and your whisk use is terrible." Flopsy seemed to shrink even more at the commentary. "Given how bad this is I'll leave Juri to test the baking." She grabbed a cookie and began nibbling on it, grimacing every time she sipped the tea. At least she was getting some pleasure off the stupefied looks on the faces of the others.

"Are you okay there sis?" Flandre waved her hand back and forth across Remilia's vision.

Remilia ignored her sister's antics. "Perfectly fine." She sat up a little more as a thought occurred to her. "Though I do think we need more maids. Perhaps start recruiting the fairies once again."

Flandre grimaced. "Those fairies are no fun anymore. I don't want any of em." She wrapped an arm around Juri's waist. "I have the best maid right here anyway!" Juri smiled and patted the vampire girls head.

"Feh," Remilia sipped her tea and frowned again. "Well, I need some servants of my own. I'm willing to share the mansion, but I refuse to share a maid."

"But fairies are useless, sis." Flandre pointed out. "Even the smart ones don't care about serving anyone other than themselves."

Remilia sighed. "True." Then she smiled. "So give me that one." She pointed at Flopsy, who jumped and squeaked again.

Flandre pouted. "The rabbit? But I caught her first!"

"Huian caught her," Remilia stated. "And besides, don't you already have the best maid?"

"Hm..." Flandre closed her eyes and frowned deeply, before looking at Remilia again. "Fine. But you can't break her permanently. If you can't train her I want her back. And Juri's head mead no matter what!"

"A fair deal, sister." Remilia smiled broadly. She drained her cup, chockign a bit on the dregs before turning to the little rabbit girl. "Alright then little girl. We're going to teach you how to make tea properly from the very beginning. Screw this up and I'll have your ears again."

The moon rabbit looked like she was about to faint, but she managed something like a bow. "Y-y-y-yes lady Remilia."

Remilai chuckled. This would prove to be amusing. "Right. Follow me, quickly now. If I get hungry again before you cook me a real meal I'll have to settle for something else."

"Yes mistress!" Flopsy replied as she almost ran towards the kitchen.

--------------

Remilia finished the last page of the manga novel and set it aside with a sigh. It had been one of Koakuma's collection, a ridiculous harem comedy of little merit. Normally she'd have dismissed the entire concept as beneath her, but to be honest the story wasn't utterly terrible. She'd found herself drawn more and more to different things these days. Besides she wanted something to distract her from how poorly Flopsy was doing in the kitchen, despite her guidance.

She stood and began walking towards the shelf to grab the next volume. Ever since her waking she'd found herself lingering more and more in the library. Flandre preferred the halls quiet and still, with only Juri at her side. Remilia had always enjoyed the bustle of a full mansion, and the library had become the closest thing to that. Voile was still quieter then her mansion had ever been, but Patchouli and her family lent it a feeling of presence. And the occasional visits of that Renko girl really brought the place to life. She could almost forgive Koakuma for stealing away her best friend.

"Oi, Remi. Didn't think you'd be looking at these books," came a familiar voice from her left.

Remilia turned to face Marisa. The magician girl still had her carefree air about her, though her smile was less mocking then it had been back when she was an intruder instead of a resident of the mansion. Of all the three Marisa had changed the least outwardly. It both annoyed and amused Remilia, which was also par for the course with Marisa.

"I wanted to see if they'd improved in the three hundred years since I went into torpor. They didn't but I find myself very bored these days." Remilia replied. "I'm surprised you aren't bored out of your mind as well, since the world seems to treat your little thefts much more harshly than they did back when we first met."

"Yeah, people are so touchy these days," Marisa replied cheerily. "Still I've gotta lot more land to roam around now. And a buncha new targets that deserve what they get. You should go out and have some fun too Remi. It's a whole new world for mankind, witches, and underaged vampires."

"Hm..." Remilia felt a strange tug inside at those words. She felt her eyes warm as she called on her oldest power. "Speak ye of beginnings, youngest of the Norns? Whose fate doth lie on the path ye see?"

Marisa's golden eyes sharpened until they almost reflected the light, while her visage darkened. "You know I hate it when you call me that Remilia. And that's your power. Not mine."

"You called upon that aspect Marisa," Remilia pointed out softly. "It's not my fault you three trigger my ability now."

"Doesn't mean you have to bring it up all the time," Marisa retorted. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and sighed. "Anyway, you know no one can see your fate except Flandre, so that should answer your question. You want more, you'll have to go bounce your power off Alice. I've done my part, which means I don't have to play puppet anymore."

Remilia shrugged as she put the book away. "You're too much of a do gooder to not give me hints like that anyway, Marisa." She smiled. "Still I owe you some thanks. Remind me to tell you where I hid some old items in the outside world. It should be little trouble for you to acquire those treasures with your current skills."

Marisa's face lit up at that. "Hm? Must be some interesting things if you didn't bring them with you. I'll hold you to that." The black white witch waved as she headed out. "Anyway I gotta look into something for a friend so I'm out. Try not to kill too many people, Remi."

Remilia waved the comment away. "Of course, of course." She turned and headed deeper into the library. It was time to talk to Alice.

----------------------

She found Alice in one of the studies that had popped up in the ever expanding library. As usual, she was stitching together another set of dolls. The puppeteer gave her a polite nod before returning to her needlework.

Remilia had always looked favourably on Alice. While she'd questioned Patchouli's other suitors, Alice had seemed like a perfect choice. Not only was Alice's handiwork impressive to Remilia's refined tastes, the woman's skill in her chosen field was something that Remilia admired. For a human to surpass a vampire in anything deserved respect. Alice's masterful dexterity was something that even Remilia looked on with wonder. She'd even decided to learn something of the art of puppeteering herself in her free time, though she was only a dabbler.

In addition the woman had a pleasant temperament. While someone close like Marisa or Patchouli (or much as she hated to admit it, Koakuma) could rile her up and cause her passions to hail down on those unfortunate enough to be around her, normally the woman was polite and refined. Thus, they got along swimmingly. And while both of them had issues with people who were stronger than them, neither of them really felt a need to clash. Remilia was well aware Alice was manipulating the mansion politically, and she was perfectly happy to let the girl do so, so long as Alice acted behind the scenes. That was one of the reasons she felt safe leaving things to Flandre.

She sat down on one of the soft couches and watched Alice work until the magician reached a stopping point. "That?s a very nice doll. It looks like you might be able to animate it fully. I heard that you'd stopped doing that though."

Alice nodded again. "Yes. After Shanghai and Hourai left the nest again I decided I wanted to focus on my biological children for a while. When they finally decide to set up their own families I'll look into making more children."

"Hmph. That may take a while with Juri," Remilia noted with a frown. She'd agreed entirely with Marisa that the Juri's obsession with the head maid position and Flandre was a poor choice.

"Kirisame family curse," Alice replied with a resigned shrug. "Best not to fight it." Remilia snorted but didn't press the point. "In any case," Alice continued, "Gensoukyo wasn't really the best place for children until recently anyway. Now that things are improving maybe I'll reconsider. Still, I have time."

"True. Time is a wonderful luxury." Remilia hesitated as the memory of that last letter flashed through her mind. Shaking her head she quashed the rebellious thought. "In any case! Something is afoot." She felt her eyes heat up again. "I seek that which ye know weaver. The patterns that form and warp."

Alice raised an eyebrow, then closed her eyes. "You are the master of two things. One more then the other. When they align, you shall find your path in this world again, little dead princess."

Remilia chewed her lip at the magician's words trying to figure out the meaning behind them. "That rabbit Flopsy? How could that stupid rabbit teach me anything?"

Alice shrugged and picked up her needle and thread again. "Sorry. This is your power, not mine. I hope you figure it out though. I've overheard your sister thinking up ideas to break you out of your introspection."

Remilia winced at that. Flandre's help usually ended in missing limbs. "Thank you for the warning." She stood and curtsied. "And for the advice. Though I do wonder why you take this matter much better than Marisa and Patchy do?"

Alice smiled and looked up from her needlework. "Sometimes it's fun to pretend not to be Alice."

Remilia curtsied again and left. She knew what it meant to be someone beyond yourself. It would be nice to have a break.

She wandered towards the heart of the library. Patchy would understand her.

------------------

Remilia had nearly slumped all the way out of her chair. Patchouli was her oldest and closest friend now, but the magician girl was her own woman, as always. Never one to leave an experiment she hadn't even given Remilia a nod of recognition when she'd entered. The only sign that Patchouli had noticed Remilia's presence at all was that she started summoning Koakuma to do the parts of the experiment that required leaving the small work area.

It was comfortably familiar, yet boring. She had half a mind to just bust up whatever Patchy was doing. Unfortunately she needed Patchouli in an understanding mood.

Finally Patchouli stoppered the beaker she was working with, coughed a bit, then looked over at her. "How nice to see you Remi. Did you want to talk about something in particular, or just chat?"

"Yes" Remilia replied shortly. She forced herself to sit upright in her chair. "I came to ask you about an ending, and then annoy you for three times as long as you left me waiting."

"Very well. I can accept that." Patchouli sat down in the chair across from her. "So what ending."

Remilia?s eyes burned again. "I seek an ending to the current tale of myself and my servant. Tell me where the thread ends, eldest of the Norns."

"The thread ends in blood, as it always does for you vampire." Patchouli said shortly. "It is your choice whose blood it shall be."

Remilia slumped again. "Damn. This is useless!" She sighed. "I should have known better than to try using my power on myself."

Patchouli blinked. "Do you even know what you're trying to do? Or why Flopsy matters?"

"That was the point of me asking," Remilia whined. "I don't even know anything about the girl other then she was sent here as the worst messenger ever."

"I see." Patchouli picked up a book from a stack next to her and began pretending to read. Remilia sat up. This was when Patchy did her best thinking. "Remi... this really isn't about Flopsy, is it?"

Remilia closed her eyes slowly. She didn't want to say it aloud, but since it was Patchouli... "No."

Patchouli's eyes floated up over the spine of the book. "Remi... you can't change the past. They're gone. You have to rebuild your life without them."

"Rebuild my life...." Remilia opened her eyes and stared up at the ceiling. "I don't know if I have a life to rebuild."

Patchouli lowered her book. "Remi..."

Remilia's gaze fell to the polished floors. "I won, you know. I broke the chains of fate. The chains only Flandre could see. You know, we were all supposed to die." Patchouli nodded quietly. Remilia had never told her best friend straight out the fate that had helped drive Flandre mad, but everyone had guessed it eventually.

Her eyes closed again and she slumped back. "And now I don't know what to do. What path does the All Father have with Loki redeemed and sitting atop Asgard? What truth is there in a world without Ragnarok? Where do I go when the sagas are cut off, when what I had driving me is gone?" She looked straight at Patchouli. "You're the only one left Patchy. And even you have changed. But I'm still the same girl I was before."

They sat there in silence for a while. Remilia felt the gloom between them slowly churn and thicken.

Finally Patchouli hid behind her book again. "Do you have to be the same girl?"

Remilia stood. It seemed there were no answers here either. "I don't know what else to be." She turned to walk away.

"Remi." She stopped. "I don't know what to say about this," Patchouli replied slowly. "But I do have one piece of advice. Talk to that rabbit girl. You're training her all wrong currently."

Remilia shifted her wings and took to the air. "I'll think about it."

--------------------

"What is this nonsense?! These are worse then you made before!"

Remilia looked down at the confections with disgust. The ratio of jam to blood was all wrong. Even Flandre would find the pastries too bloody. What's worse was that the bread had been made perfectly. The stupid rabbit obviously knew how to cook. She just was messing up on the details.

Even Flopsy's cowering didn't improve her mood, which only angered her further. If she couldn't enjoy bullying lesser youkai what was the point of being awake?!

"I- I'm sorry," Flopsy was out and out shaking now. Tears were starting to form in the rabbit girl's eyes.

Remilia couldn't stand it. This wouldn't be fun even if she was in a good mood. "Oh be quiet." She hopped on one of the stools and sat down. "Pull yourself together and make me some tea. You've at least become passable at that. Nothing like Sakuya, but it's drinkable."

"Y-y-y-y-yes, mistress." Flopsy staggered over to the stove and started shakily reaching for the pot.

Remilia shook her head and groaned. "Never mind, you idiot. You'll only burn yourself like that." She hopped off the stool and started towards the liquor cabinet. She needed something stronger then tea. "I don't understand you. If you're that afraid of us killing you why don't you just run away? I sure that so called prince-"

Remilia froze when she saw Flopsy had fell to the floor. The little rabbit girl was clutching her legs to her chest rocking back and forth while tears streamed down her eyes. Her mouth moved but only tiny whimpers escaped. Her mismatched ears twisted and turned on her head, listening for sounds only she could hear.

As Remilia stepped forward the girl froze, eyes looking down at the floor, like a condemned man refusing to face his executioner. Remilia shuddered at the sight. She saw it again. The broken room. The puddles and streams of blood. That one's silver hair, and the light reflecting off tears of rage, helplessness, and betrayal.

The vision passed, and Remilia found herself in the kitchen again. Flopsy's tears had stopped. Perhaps because she was too frightened to cry, perhaps because there were no more tears to be shed. "I see." Remilia blinked as tears started to form in her own eyes. Now she knew where her anger had come from.

Remilia slowly and carefully moved over to Flopsy. The rabbit girl flinched away once as Remilia reached over to lift up her chin, but she was too exhausted to resist.

Remilia wished she could do this properly. To say the words that this girl needed to hear. Ask the questions properly so she could understand what was eating away at Flopsy's mind. But she couldn't. A devil could manage sympathy, but understanding.... Understanding weakness was not something a vampire did. So she called upon her eyes again to hypnotize the girl.

It was surprisingly painful. Her own scarlet eyes were opposed by the lunar rabbit's crimson eyes. Reisen's eyes were much stronger, but Remilia still found herself with a headache by the time Flopsy's arms finally relaxed and ears stopped twitching.

When Flopsy had the presence of mind to look away from her in embarrassment, Remilia stepped back. She did her best to control her voice as much as possible, keeping it even. "Tell me about it."

Flopsy sniffed and clutched her legs again. Remilia was afraid for a second the girl had relapsed when she muttered. "I don't want to die."

Remilia looked down at the moon rabbit with pity. "Then why not run away? You know we won't chase you. You should know Huian at least would help you escape."

"Where?" Flopsy sobbed. "Where can I run?"

"My parents ran. They didn't want to kill people so they ran. And, and, and the other rabbits turned them in! They were executed for not following orders." Remilia could only watch helplessly as Flopsy sniffed and panted for breath. "Why? They didn't warn the humans? They didn't try to stop the other messengers. They just didn't want to kill people! Why did they have to die for that?"

"Why?" Flopsy wailed. "And it didn't change anything! They tried to do what was right, and they got killed and no one cares! No one changed their mind, or learned to stand up for themselves or anything! The other rabbits just turned away and went back to following their masters!"

"And here I am, stuck on earth slowly losing my purity and dying because my parents were too pure to kill billions." Flopsy sniffed and wiped her eyes. "So I don't care anymore. I don't care about justice, or truth, or self-respect. I just don't want to die. That's all. That's all I want."

Remilia stood there awkwardly. What was she supposed to do? Her instincts told her to drain the little girl dry right here to take away the pain and make a useful servant out of the rabbit, but she smothered those. Her heart told her to pet the girl and promise that everything would be okay, but that was a lie. She was a devil, and there was no way she could keep from terrifying someone as broken as Flopsy was.

With Sakuya there had been hate. A rage against the injustice of the universe and the people that named her a monster no matter what she did. Here there was nothing but fear. Flopsy knew she was powerless, both against the whims of fate and those around her.

Nothing but fear.... The whims of fate....

An idea came to Remilia. A very dangerous idea, but one that fit her nature perfectly.

She felt her eyes begin to glow again, and she smiled even though her headache increased. "Very well then. We'll get back to your training later. For now take a rest. We'll meet again at midnight to talk."

Flopsy just looked up at her in confusion. Remilia sighed, then reached out with her magic and poked at a familiar mind. Dinah appeared in the room a moment later, the half devil reacting to Remilia's mini summoning. "Yes, Lady Remilia?"

"Flopsy's had a long day," Remilia said. "Could you or Huian tend to her for a bit?"

Dinah blinked at the request, but nodded. "Sure. I don't have any experiments right now so I can handle it." She walked over and lifted the little rabbit girl into her arms. "Come on. I'll teleport you to your room, so you can tell me all about it there, okay?"

Remilia sighed in relief as Dinah teleported out. The only redeeming quality of succubi was their ability to give people the companionship they required. As a half succubi, Dinah was by far the most empathetic of the SDM, meaning Flopsy was in good hands. Now Remilia could relax.

She turned back to the liquor cabinet and grabbed one of the bottles without blood in it. She didn't need to eat that badly, but hopefully alcohol could cure her headache so she could nap before the night's festivities.

------------------

Remilia flapped her wings in the moonlight. It was a wonderful night to be out and flying. The moon was nearly full, the wind was pleasantly chill, and the rustling of the leaves made the whole world seem alive, even as it was dying. Even the weight in her arms couldn't take away from her enjoyment.

"Um, mistress, I can fly on my own if it pleases you," Flopsy said. The bunny girl wriggled a little in Remilia's grip, but Remilia ignored that.

"You don't move fast enough to keep up with me," Remilia replied simply. "I wish to handle this quickly."

"Yes mistress...." Remilia could see that Flopsy desperately wanted to know what was gong on, but was too scared to ask. Well soon, Remilia would fix that.

As she cleared the next hill the target of her hunt came into view. Six figures on an overgrown trail. "Excellent." Remilia murmured. She dropped down to near the ground so they wouldn't see her arrival, then landed about a thousand feet ahead of them, near a bend in the road. She let Flopsy go, then moved to the treeline.

"What are we doing, Lady Remilia?" Flopsy whispered.

Remilia pulled the rabbit girl into the darkness of the forest before answering. "These six here are bandits. Survivors of the war who heard about a land of rich fields and beautiful women surrounded by monsters. They're here to try to demand some protection money. And probably a bit more."

Flopsy blinked. "And...?"

Remilia smirked. "I am here to hunt. You are here to watch."

Remilia saw a flash of metal as the six rounded the bend. The time for waiting was over. She grabbed Flopsy by the wrist and dragged the young girl to the center of the road.

The six men of course stopped dead in their tracks. Two of them leveled rifles at her, while the rest fumbled with their weapons. Flopsy of course shrieked and dropped to the ground. "Who are you?" One of the men shouted.

"I am the Scarlet Devil." She replied cheerily. "And I've decided this road is mine. You'll have to pay the toll if you want to cross."

"Where's your parents, little girls?" one of the fools in the back laughed.

"Dead." Remilia replied sweetly as she stretched her wings out in the moonlight. "I murdered them about a thousand years ago."

"She's one of those monsters!" The man in front yelled. "Grenade!"

Remilia snickered as the fool next to the leader shakily pulled out a grenade, twisted the cap and threw it at her. She easily dashed forward and slapped the missile up into the sky. "Too easy."

"Shit!" The men all ducked as the bomb exploded in the air. The wind rushed around her as she hopped forward amongst them. Tensing her palm just like Meiling taught her, she aimed a palm trust at the closest victim. She smiled as her hand plunged into his soft belly. With a whirl she brought her other hand around, slamming her hammer fist into his ribs. There was a crack, as if she'd struck a rotting branch, and the man went flying into a tree, leaving his warm steaming entrails behind.

With a laugh she turned and tossed the stinking greasy handful into the arms of one of the man's friends. The bandit froze in horror, giving her plenty of time to reach up, grab his throat, and rip off his head. Sweet blood splashed on her face, causing her heart to beat even faster.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw the leader move towards Flopsy's form. Perhaps to grab a hostage. Remilia hefted the skull she'd just acquired like a ball then threw it at her new target. The grisly missile struck the man in the back with another satisfying crunch, and he collapsed like a wet rag.

Suddenly pain seared through her body in a lightning flash. Looking down, she saw one of those thrice damned swords the Japanese loved so. This one had been awakened, giving it the power to injure creatures such as herself.

But it was no more than a papercut was to a human. She reached around and ripped the blade out, then turned. The swordsman staggered back, and Remilia's nose stung with the acrid scent of his fear. She tossed the sword through his foot, then stretched both arms as far back as they could go before letting loose with a flurry of blows that left her arms stinging. The swordsman's upper body disappeared into a fine mist.

The other two bandits dropped their weapons and ran. Remilia considered them for a moment, then drew some blood off her face and flicked the droplets at them. At the touch of her power the droplets formed into spears that raced across the path, cutting the two down.

The wind gusted, sending a rustling hail of leaves over the path. Remilia nodded in satisfaction at her work, then turned and walked to where Flopsy was staring at her in shock. "Do you understand now? The power that a devil has at their command?"

She stood before the trembling rabbit girl, covered with blood and gore. "This is the world we live in. A hell of death and bloodshed. Each day we kill others to live on. God demands we follow justice and honor, then turn his back on those that do, while the corrupt rise to the top."

Once again she reached out to lift Flopsy's eyes to her face. "But we devils offer what the divine will not. We can rip apart the fabric of this tainted world and reform it to our whims. And we give our power to those who are willing to give us what we desire.?

?So tell me little rabbit. What is your wish? What do you want most of all?"

Flopsy sank to her knees. "I want-" She closed her eyes tightly. "I want to live! I just want to live! I'll do anything you ask if you keep me alive!"

Remilia nodded. She reached into her mind and called up the power, shaping words and lines into her mind as Patchouli had taught her how long ago to speed up the ritual. As the spell began to form she carefully patted back the young girls hair. "Is that your wish? Will you sacrifice your soul to the devil for it? Are you willing to cast aside the purity of the moon and embrace the taint of the earth to get it? To become a monster for all time? This is your choice. I shall not penalize you either way."

Flopsy sniffed, then looked up at Remilia with the closest thing to determination that the vampire had seen on her face. "If you protect me I promise to serve you with all that I have. Even if it costs me my soul. Even if I become a monster."

Remilia closed her eyes as memories flooded in again. Silver hair, blue eyes. And a simple reply, "I offer you my body. But my soul is my own. I will become a human in death at least." Remilia smiled sadly.

"You two really are nothing alike, are you?"

"Mistress?"

Remilia turned her thoughts back to the present. With the swipe of a claw she opened up a cut on her hand, then held it over the rabbit's mouth. "Drink this, in service to me." Flopsy shuddered, but obediently caught the few drops that fell.

The young girl cried out and convulsed, but Remilia knew the spell had worked correctly. "That's my blood binding with yours. So long as I live you will share my regenerative powers. In return you must do everything I demand of you, or your blood will turn against you."

Remilia embraced her new servant. "Your first command, above all others, is to serve me as best you see fit, even if it means disobeying my other commands."

Flopsy blinked then rose and curtsied. "As you wish, my mistress."

"Good." Remilia smiled. She felt more alive than she had since that fateful day long ago, when she'd lost Sakuya.

She straightened up. It was time to get to work building her new life. "Now Flopsy, I'm going to teach you how to clean a carcass."

"Um, won?t I need a knife for that Mistress?"

"You don't have a knife on you? What were you thinking? A proper servant should have a knife on them at all times!"

"Ah, I'm sorry mistress!"

---------------------

Remilia sipped the tea as Flopsy stood next to her. "Hm... Acceptable. It seems to have a certain sharpness I'm not used to."

Flopsy bowed. "Should I change the recipe again milady?"

"Hm...." Remilia considered the matter. "No, this is fine. Though I think I would not want this more than once or twice a week."

Across from her Flandre frowned. "Really sis? It's not bad, but this isn't anything like what Sakuya would ever make."

Remilia closed her eyes. "Exactly."

Sakuya. Dear, irreplaceable, Sakuya. The perfect maid. Her perfect maid. Remilia understood now. She would never find that perfection again.

But she could build a new perfection. So long as she was willing to break with her past and forge ahead.

She opened her eyes again. "I let that stupid ghost borrow Sakuya for a bit, after all. I'll need a maid of my own for the next four hundred years or so until I can get her back." She smirked. "Along with Meiling and that naive little gardener. After all, that ghost girl owes me."

She saw Flopsy's eyes darken a bit at that and she smiled wider. The little rabbit was getting jealous already was she? Well the girl had sold her soul to serve as Remilia's personal maid. Talking about other servants around her would annoy her.

She looked back at Flandre. "I think Flopsy here will need some leadership training for then. Why not take in a few fairy maids. Just two or three will do."

"Hm... Wouldn't other rabbits be better?" Flandre smiled at Flopsy. "You can call in some if you want right?"

"Um, I would prefer to remain the only rabbit here, Lady Flandre," Flopsy replied.

Juri nodded. "Fairies would be better for me as well, mistress. I know several charms to handle them. Devils would be best but..."

"No way." Remilia and Flandre replied in unison. The sisters exchanged a nod. Three devils under one room was enough.

Flandre sighed. "Alright. Three fairies. And Juri has to approve all of them. And if they annoy me I make them go kyuu~!" Flandre said, squeezing her hand and making a tree pop behind Remilia.

Flopsy shivered at that, but Remilia was happy to note the little rabbit recovered almost instantly. "Good. Flopsy, make three rooms for our new servants."

The bunny girl bowed. "Yes Lady Remilia."

"Ah, and take this." Remilia reached into her pockets and handed the bemused rabbit girl a silver pocketwatch. "A badge of your office."

"Thank you, mistress!" Flopsy smiled and bowed again before bounding away.

When Flopsy was gone, Juri cleared her throat. "She seems a strange choice for that gift Lady Remilia. While the idea of a white rabbit with a pocketwatch bounding around my mother amuses me, she's hardly a spiritual successor for Miss Sakuya."

Remilia sipped her tea again happily. "You're right. She's utterly unlike Sakuya. Except for the most important point." She looked up at Juri. "She's mine."

Juri smiled at the reply. "Ah. A perfect answer. As expected from Lady Flandre's sister."

Flandre shrugged. "I don't get it sis. But whatever makes you happy."

"Indeed." Remilia looked out into the garden, unburdened by times weight. Once again the eternal child, looking for her place in the world. ?Whatever makes me happy.?

Iced Fairy · « **Reply #96 on:** October 30, 2012, 09:23:01 PM »

KyteMalasky · « **Reply #97 on:** October 31, 2012, 12:16:28 AM »

I thought you were gonna use the Dishonored version and make something far darker. :V

Iced Fairy · « **Reply #98 on:** November 01, 2012, 10:59:16 PM »

Quote from: KyteMalasky on October 31, 2012, 12:16:28 AM

I thought you were gonna use the Dishonored version and make something far darker. :V

Nah, that would indicate it had something to do with the story!

Anyways stuff now:
----------------------------------------

Alice stretched before returning her attention to the tome. Shanghai leaned over her shoulder, following her mental interest in the words. Being a puppeteer required more than just studying magical tomes. In order to be a performer one had to learn storytelling as well. Alice's skill in that field was... mediocre. Still she was passable at ad libbing, which meant that if she studied a story well she could use that as a basis for her own performances.

She was currently reading through a tale about a princess who escaped her captors before the various princes looking for her ever found the castle, and the various issues that sprang up from it. There were a few edits she already had in mind, specifically the princess? disposition and competence. But overall it was a good piece for a festival.

She sighed as a knock on her door interrupted her thoughts. Shanghai flailed in annoyance as she stood to deal with the intrusion. Who could be visiting her anyway? Marisa would have already walked inside. She waved her hand and a doll levitated over to open the door.

To her surprise a demon with flame red hair in a librarian's outfit was standing there. "Ah, sorry to interrupt you Lady Alice, but something's come up."

"Something stranger than you being out of the library without Patchouli?" Alice replied. Shanghai waved the little devil in, and Alice mimicked the gesture. "Well it must be important then. Come in. Do you want some tea?" Alice sent a few dolls out to the pot just in case.

Koakuma gingerly entered her house and sat on one of the couches. "Ah, tea might be nice, but I'm not sure how long we'll be staying. You see, there's a problem at Marisa's."

Alice raised an eyebrow at that. "What kind of problem?" she asked as Shanghai bobbed about in agitation.

Koakuma's head wings twitched. "Well, Miss Patchouli sent me to get back some books.... So I decided to stake out Marisa's house and break in while she was out."

"A good plan," Alice stated. "So what's the problem? If you want me to act as a decoy I'm afraid I'll have to refuse."

"It's not that. Breaking in would be too easy." Koakuma frowned. "The problem is Marisa's been moping about during the day and drinking herself senseless at night for the last three days!"

"What?!" Alice bit her lip and stared down at the table. What could cause Marisa to mope like that? It wasn't romance, since Alice was... decently certain she knew who Marisa was interested in. No one in the village had died recently. And Marisa never let herself get this obsessed over spell research.

Shanghai's agitated pacing brought her back to reality. She looked up at Koakuma. "So you want me to help break Marisa out of her funk?"

Koakuma nodded, her wings drooping slightly. "Yes. I'm afraid I'm not the best person to cheer up Marisa when she's down. If she were her normal self I could help I think, but right now," Koakuma looked away, "she doesn't need me making her question her romantic inclinations."

Something in the little devil's tone caught Alice's attention. She looked closer at Koakuma, trying her best to read the tiny movements of the woman's true emotions. Finally the truth struck her.
Shanghai covered her little doll mouth as Alice stated "You like her, don't you."

Koakuma drooped some more. "Not the same way I like Miss Patchouli, but...."

Alice sighed. Devils were apparently complicated. "We'll have to have a talk later I see." Shanghai zoomed upward as she stood. "But first let's deal with a drunken witch."

Koakuma's recovery to her cheery self was remarkably fast. "Right! Please lead the way Lady Alice."

"Hmph. You're the one who asked me to go." Shanghai shook her head as Alice floated out the door. "Still, I guess I am the one who will be doing all the work. Come along then, and try not to interfere too much."

She flew along doing her best to ignore Koakuma singing "What do you do with a drunken witch girl," as they traveled. Though she had to admit the woman had a fine mastery of doggerel. It had to be all the books.

------

Marisa's house was, as always, a wreck. Strange metalwork, discarded items stolen from Kourindou and other assorted junk filled the girl?s yard. The grass itself was poorly kept as well, with strange (and poisonous) mushrooms growing in the shade and odd vines wrapped all over.

Alice put aside her annoyance at how messy Marisa was and landed straight in front of the door. She considered being circuitous for a moment, then discarded the idea. Marisa could be subtle, but usually the direct route was best. She knocked on the door. "Marisa, it's me, Alice."

There was a rustling from inside followed by the dull clank of a bottle hitting the floor and a series of curses. Shanghai and Koakuma flinched as another dull clank indicated someone had kicked the bottle. "I'm busy. Go'home."

Alice felt her lip curling in disgust. What could have driven Marisa to such a sorry state? "Sorry Marisa, I'm here to beat you in a magician's duel and enslave you for a year and a day. Today the forest will be mine."

Koakuma's mouth dropped open. "What?! What are you saying?! That's not part of the plan!" Alice ignored the little devil. Her panic helped with verisimilitude after all.

There was another curse from inside and the clattering crash of a table being violently swept clean. There was another clunk as a bottle was kicked again, then several stomping footsteps before the door was flung open and Marisa pointed a hakkero right in Alice's face. ?I told ya to get lost.?

Alice's eyes flew open at Marisa's appearance. The witch was disheveled and reeked of far more than three days worth of boozing. Dark rings encircled her narrowed golden eyes, and her hair was matted and ratty. She'd been sleeping in her outfit as well, given the creases, smudges, and missing hat.

And to further Alice's surprise there was an aura of power around the black white witch that Alice hadn't expected to feel for some time.

Shanghai bobbed forward as Alice stared. ?You've become a magician.?

?What?? Koakuma's voice helped pull Alice back to reality. ?You're a magician now, Marisa?? The little devil moved up next to Alice, ignoring the danger posed by Marisa's hakkero. ?Why didn?t you tell us? This is impressive!?

Marisa's eyes and arm dropped at Koakuma's praise. ?Yeah. I'm a youkai now.? She turned and kicked a basket full of umbrellas over. ?The worst magician in Gensoukyo!? she spat as Alice flinched. ?Can't even cast my own spells right!?

Alice could only stare in shock as Marisa carelessly threw her hakkero to the side and stomped back to her table, pausing only to grab a bottle from a shelf on the way. ?So whatever. Do your damned magician's contest or whatever then go away. I want to be alone.?

?Marisa....? Koakuma looked at the newly born magician with sympathy in her eyes. Alice understood the little devil?s feelings. Something had gone very wrong to get Marisa this out of sorts. On the other hand, Alice was also angry at how blas? Marisa was being about something she'd worked damn hard to accomplish.

Shanghai straightened up as Alice decided on her course of action. First things first. She needed to get past Marisa's refusal to admit her problems to find out what was actually going on. And the best way to handle that was to put Marisa off balance.

She marched up to one of the other chairs, righted it, then sat down. ?Very well then. I challenge you to an endurance contest. Whoever can withstand Koakuma's back rub the longest wins.?

?What?? The two other women stared at her incredulously. After a few moments Marisa started rubbing her eyes to check that she was still awake. Koakuma on the other hand started smiling wider and wider. ?You're joking, right?? Marisa muttered incredulously.

?Nope,? Alice replied. She waved Koakuma forward. ?You go first Marisa.?

Marisa just stared at Alice stupidly as Koakuma skipped over behind her. She finally snapped out of her stupor as the little devil rested her hand on her shoulders. ?Wait! What are you- But I thought-?

?Now now Marisa, this is a formal challenge,? Koakuma cooed. Marisa sat bolt upright as the succubus started massaging her shoulders while pressing against her back. ?But don't worry,? Koakuma said in a false conspiratorial whisper. ?I'll take it easy on you.?

Marisa sat there mouthing words soundlessly as Koakuma went to work on her. Alice did her best to pretend to be uninterested in the proceedings, though the fact that Shanghai was fuming next to the wall probably belied her calm a bit. Finally Marisa sighed and relaxed a little. ?You just set this up to try to get me to talk didn't you??

Alice took a deep breath. ?Yeah,? she admitted. ?It was the only way I could think of that would work on someone as hard headed as you.?

Marisa grunted, then gasped as Koakuma somehow made her shoulders pop. ?Yeah, that figures.? She sighed and sat there for a few moments with her eyes closed.

?The immortality potion wasn't supposed to make me a magician youkai,? Marisa finally said.

?Huh?? Alice blinked at Marisa's statement. ?It wasn't supposed to make you a youkai?? Shanghai started hovering forward as the full meaning of Marisa's words hit her. ?You mean you turned yourself into a youkai by accident?!?

?Ha! That's right!? Koakuma hopped back as Marisa slammed the table, then slouched forward. ?I created a potion that absolutely, positively, one hundred percent could not turn a human into a youkai. And here I am! A fucking youkai magician!? Marisa slapped the half full sake bottle to the floor then buried her face in her arms.

Alice ground her teeth while sending one of her dolls to right the bottle. How dare Marisa just brush off the effort it took to become a magician. How could she....

She shook her head and forced herself to take deep breaths. Obviously there was something else at play. She did her best to calm herself. Fortunately Koakuma had gone back to giving Marisa a back rub, so the other magician wouldn't notice Alice's annoyance.

When she'd gathered some control over her temper she asked carefully, ?Why didn't you want to become a youkai magician? Isn't that the normal result of an immortality technique using magic??

Marisa snorted. ?You wouldn't understand. You're from Makai. Humanity doesn't mean much there. Here...? Marisa managed to push herself somewhat upright with Koakuma's help. ?Here it's different. Now I'm on the other team. Forever. Even if I solve an incident I can only make things worse.?

?Ah...? Shanghai sat down on Alice's shoulder as she thought. Marisa did have a point. She didn't completely understand the details here in Gensoukyo. And she didn't think much about what it meant to be human one way or another. She was Alice, raised by the demon goddess Shinki. The concept of ?humanity? didn't mean much there.

After a while she decided to return to facts. ?So, you created an immortality potion in order to become immortal without ending up as a magician, lich or hermit. And after taking it you ended up as a magician.? Alice frowned. ?That seems wildly improbable. Especially since you're so good with potions. Perhaps you ran afoul of some magical law that isn't in the literature??

?I shouldn't have,? Marisa muttered. ?I made extra sure the potion was inimical to youkai power. Hell the damn thing should have killed me when I became a youkai. There were three different allergens in there.?

Alice sighed. ?I see...? She turned her attention to the table for a while, trying to think of what to do. She couldn't understand this. Koakuma couldn't understand it. She had a feeling talking to Reimu was out of the question. So who could they turn to?

?You don't need to keep twisting my shoulders Koa,? Marisa muttered.

Shnaghai took to the air. That was the solution. ?Marisa, go get cleaned up. We have someone to meet.?

Marisa glared over at her. ?I don't recall saying I wanted to go anywhere.?

Alice rolled her eyes. ?Think for a moment. You want answers to two questions. Why did your potion fail, and how to be a human that isn't fully human.? Alice tapped on the table. ?And the obvious people to answer those questions are Patchouli and Sakuya.?

Marisa blinked a few times. Then nodded. Alice was pleased to see a spark returning to those golden eyes. ?Sakuya. Yeah, she'd understand.? Marisa sighed then slowly stood as Koakuma stepped back. ?I guess I?ll have to take a bath.? She sighed again, then slowly walked over and picked up her hakkero. ?Oh, and if you peek Koa, I'll blast you.? She walked out towards her bathroom.

?Don't worry Marisa,? Koakuma called after her.

Alice closed her eyes as Marisa entered the bathroom. ?Well, we're getting somewhere.?

?Yes. That was very clever Lady Alice. I'm glad you came to help.? Alice started as a softness pressed into her back. Then two hands fell on her shoulders. ?Still, I'm afraid I'm still favoring Marisa in the contest.?

?That was a joke and you know it,? Alice sputtered in protest.

?You said it was an official challenge~? Koakuma replied. Alice's retort was cut off as Koakuma somehow managed to make both shoulders and her breastbone pop. ?And besides, as a succubus my pride demands I prove that I did go easy on Marisa....?

Joveus Molai · « **Reply #99 on:** November 01, 2012, 11:51:08 PM »

Quote from: Iced Fairy on November 01, 2012, 10:59:16 PM

Nah, that would indicate it had something to do with the story!

Good thing too: I don't want to slice Marisa's throat with a rusty cleaver :qq:

On topic: Veeeery interesting idea for exploring Marisa as a character. :3 This isn't going to be a one-shot, is it? Please don't tell me it's a one shot, or else you've just written one of the biggest c**kblocks I've ever read. :ohdear:

Iced Fairy · « **Reply #100 on:** November 02, 2012, 12:11:00 AM »

Quote from: Joveus Molai on November 01, 2012, 11:51:08 PM

Good thing too: I don't want to slice Marisa's throat with a rusty cleaver :qq:

On topic: Veeeery interesting idea for exploring Marisa as a character. :3 This isn't going to be a one-shot, is it? Please don't tell me it's a one shot, or else you've just written one of the biggest c**kblocks I've ever read. :ohdear:

I promise it won't be over until the shrine maiden complains.

Iced Fairy · « **Reply #101 on:** November 12, 2012, 01:22:07 AM »

Alice sighed as her spine seemed to lose its strength. ?Alright alright you win.?

Koakuma giggle. ?Actually I believe Marisa wins.? Alice shuddered as Koakuma breathed into her ear. ?Servitude for a year and a day was it??

Shanghai whapped the little demon upside the head. ?Don?t you dare,? Alice muttered.

?Aww...? Koakuma pouted, then she smiled. ?Well then I guess I could take Marisa for that time.?

Alice slowly pushed herself upright. ?Drop the matter and I?ll help you surprise Patchouli.?

Koakuma thought for a moment, ?Alright, it?s a deal. Three for one is best anyway~?

Alice?s retort was cut off by Marisa exiting her bathroom. ?Let?s go before I think of a way out of this,? the witch muttered.

Alice groaned and stood. ?Yes. Let?s get out of here.?

----

As their little group walked through the shelves in silence Alice once again noted how Voile was very obviously Patchouli?s space, not Remilia?s.

The most obvious indicator was the bookshelves themselves. Remilia would have compromised ease of use with aesthetics on some level. Patchouli just had Koakuma put the books into the correct shelf with no concern as to whether it stuck out past its fellows or was half the size of it?s neighbors.

The furniture was another strong indicator. While everything was of similar make to Remilia?s, it was all scattered and oddly placed here in the library. Sakuya probably had given up at some point. Chairs were placed as bookstops, tables were overturned to create makeshift pens, and several of the ubiquitous flower lamps had been reconfigured to stands for magical artifacts.

Finally they arrived where Patchouli was working. Shanghai and Koakuma both waved, while Alice nodded politely. Marisa on the other hand did her best to disappear. Alice moved behind the woman so she couldn?t run away as easily. She was just glad they?d gotten to Marisa before she?d gotten seriously drunk.

?I?m back Miss Patchouli!? Koakuma chirped.

Patchouli gave the group one of her long stares that would look so much better with glasses. ?I asked you to bring back the stolen books, not the thief responsible, Koakuma. Though since Alice is here I....? Patchouli suddenly started then stared directly at Marisa. Alice put her hand lightly on the witch?s shoulder to keep her from backing up more.

Despite how serious the matter was, seeing Patchouli totally and utterly dumbstruck was one of Alice?s secret pleasures. The way realization slowly dawned across the elder magician?s face was somehow priceless. It started out as simple suspicion, turned to inspection, then shock, curiosity and bitter annoyance before finally settling on pure disbelief. ?You. How did you do it?!?? Patchouli choked out.

Marisa flinched at the question. ?I don?t know. I fucked up somehow.?

Patchouli started to tremble. ?You. You. You. You completed both magician rituals? By accident?!?

Patchouli started rapidly whispering and a magic symbol formed around her feet. Marisa yelped and ducked under a nearby table, while Koakuma teleported away. Alice simply snarled and flicked her wrist to drop one of her suicide dolls on Patchouli's arm. ?You can kill her later! Right now I want to find out what's going on.?

A fit of coughing seized Patchouli and the magical runes faded. Marisa poked her head out as the elder wizard sat down. ?Fine,? Patchy muttered. ?I suppose this is something that needs study, no matter how much it insults me.?

?Wait a second Patchy,? Marisa said as she moved back up next to Alice. ?You said I completed both rituals? Shashoku and Shachuu??

?Yes.? Patchouli replied sharply. ?Something that should be impossible.?

?Yeah well I should be dead too,? Marisa muttered as she pulled out some papers and tossed them on the table. Alice could help but lean forward as Patchouli moved to get a look at them. ?My notes. I used all the ingredients as written.?

The three all crowded around the table, previous threats forgotten as they poured over the papers. Alice had to admit Marisa's mastery of potion craft was impressive. It was vastly better than hers, and judging by the way Patchouli was occasionally referencing another book, it was probably better than Patchouli's as well. Alice had always suspected Patchouli was an alchemist who worked better with non organic compounds.

Still the basics were easy enough even for Alice to figure out. ?You?re right, Marisa. That much hemlock would kill a human, and sakaki berries are deadly to us youkai. I have no idea how you?re still breathing.?

?But I'm not dead,? Marisa pointed out.

?I can fix that if you want,? Patchouli muttered.

?Ah, it seems matters weren't as bad as you suggested, Koakuma.?

The trio looked up to see Sakuya floating down, with the little devil behind her. The maid had a serving tray with a pot of tea held in one hand, while she idly flipped a knife in the other. ?I brought tea if you aren?t actually planning on killing each other right now. It was also suggested I might wish to stick around for the conversation??

Alice and Shanghai both turned to look at Marisa, the doll folding her arms as she did. Marisa looked away and pursed her lips. Alice wondered if Marisa had finally realized how insulting complaining about being a youkai was to a bunch of youkai, or if she was still just angry about her weakness.

Sakuya just put down the tray and poured the tea silently. She was an expert in waiting people out, much better than Yumeko. Of course their masters were quite different as well, Alice reflected.

Finally Marisa sighed and hung her head. ?So yeah. I wanted to chat with you Sakuya.?

Sakuya blinked at that. ?Well I suppose I could take a short break. Please feel free to speak what?s on your mind.?

?Well...? Marisa looked over to Alice and Patchouli before quickly looking away. ?Mind if we walk and talk a bit??

Sakuya nodded. ?Of course not.? She bowed to Patchouli. ?With your leave?? Patchouli waved the two away before turning back to Marisa?s notes. Alice gave the two a polite nod as they wandered off.

As soon as Marisa rounded the corner Koakuma pulled out another book. ?Ah. I brought you the encyclopedia of eastern potion making as well Miss Patchouli. I figured you might want it around now.?

Patchouli gave a sigh of relief. ?Thank you Koakuma. I have no idea why the hydrangeas had to be blue, but Marisa was specific about it.?

Shanghai hid a grin while Alice raised an eyebrow. ?So you admit she?s better than you at potions??

Patchouli grunted. ?And other item enchantments. I knew I should have studied those more, but it was so time consuming and alchemy seemed like a better use of my resources.?

?The perils of being a magician without a specialty.? Alice replied.

Patchouli flipped the book open harshly. ?It would be easier to accept if her magical studies weren?t all over the place. I?d never met someone so deserving of the term hedge magician before. It stings my pride, even if Marisa is a master at it.?

Alice smiled. ?Well perhaps you could use some stress reduction.? She quickly dropped a silence rune on the elder magician. ?Koakuma maybe a backrub will help your mistress.?

Patchouli?s eye?s opened wide, but Koakuma was already in motion. ?A fine idea~! Now don?t worry Miss Patchouli. I promise you I won?t use my full power.?

It took Patchouli half a second to dispel the rune preventing the magician from ordering Koakuma to stop. By then of course Koakuma already had her hands on Patchouli?s shoulders and chest against the magician?s back. ?Koakuma that?s no- ah!?

Alice sat down and tried not to look too smug at Patchouli?s expression as she melted into the table. ?I really must get you to teach me how to do that someday, Koakuma.?

-----

Marisa walked silently along Sakuya. Every now and then she found herself glancing over at the maid. She knew what she wanted to say, but how could she put her feelings into words?

Finally Sakuya stopped walking and turned to look directly at her. Marisa couldn?t help but flinch away from the older woman?s gaze. ?I see. So you became a magician.? Sakuya said. ?I thought I was just sensing one of Patchouli?s experiments, but I guess I was wrong.?

?For a dabbler you?re pretty good.? Marisa couldn?t bring herself to look at Sakuya?s eyes to see the maid?s emotions. ?It?s... well... I didn?t want to become a magician. The potion was supposed to make me immortal, but not a magician.?

?Hm?? Sakuya?s sound of surprise helped banish some of the butterflies in Marisa?s stomach. She looked over to see Sakuya tapping her knife belt and looking up in contemplation. ?That seems strange, but I suppose stranger things have happened.?

The maid?s eyes opened wide for a bit, then she looked back at Marisa in sympathy. ?Ah I see. You understood what it meant to be human. That?s why you were trying to avoid becoming a youkai.?

Marisa let out a long sigh and sank down next to one of the shelves. ?Human? I dunno. But, well, I wanted to give other people who were weak a goal to aim for.? Sakuya sat down next to her as she continued. ?When I was a kid, when I was with Mima or even just when I was flying around on my own I never realized how big a deal it was. I mean, here I was, a kid with a little more magic power than average, and I was flying around Gensoukyo beating up master youkai right alongside the Hakurei maiden.?

Marisa stared up at the crimson ceiling. ?I think it was Byakuren who finally made me figure it out. When she told me youkai were oppressed, I thought of all the humans who spent
their lives completely at the mercy of youkai. Sure it?s not a big a deal if you?ve got the special magic bloodline or you?re a god, but to those of us who have to train for years to be able to fight and survive it means a lot!?

?I imagine people with the ability to master time would fall into the ?not that big a deal category,? Sakuya stated.

Marisa winced. She accepted the maid?s cold stare with her own eyes. ?Sorry Sakuya. I didn?t mean to hit that.?.

She sighed. ?That?s actually why I wanted to talk to you before Reimu.? She matched her gold eyes to Sakuya?s blue ones. ?You know what it means to lose part of your humanity against your will.?

Sakuya nodded, then closed her eyes. ?Yes... I do know that.? The maid?s eyes flickered open again. ?But I?m afraid Marisa my advice won?t help you much. Because the humanity I lost was the one part you were going to throw away. I don?t hate you for it, but you must understand, a human who doesn?t die naturally is barely a human at all.?

?Well, you?re still a human,? Marisa protested. ?You just work for a devil. That?s why the villagers can?t relate.?

?It?s much more than that, Marisa,? Sakuya replied. ?Mokou is human. Keine is half human. Even Meiling was once human. In fact she said at one point that any children she has will naturally be human as well.?

Marisa blinked at that. ?Really? Meiling? Isn?t she older than China itself??

?Not quite. But she knew the immortals who left to become the first Lunarians,? Sakuya stated with a smile. ?Still, you can see how time changes someone. As the centuries pass it?s impossible to not become distant from humanity.?

Marisa let her head flop back against the shelves. ?So you?re saying I was pursuing something impossible to begin with.?

?I?m afraid so.?

Marisa groaned. It figured. She never should have trusted a youkai?s word on the matter. Even if that youkai was Yukari. Then again it was nice knowing the youkai sage could be so uninformed on humans.

She drummed her fingers on the floor. ?I still would have liked to stay a human. Now it looks like I switched teams because humans aren?t good enough.?

Sakuya nodded, then leaned back herself. ?To be honest, I?m one of the few humans who would think like that. I?m afraid that within a century no one will remember you as a human Marisa.?

Marisa turned to face the maid as Sakuya put her hand on her shoulder. ?However you can still make a difference if you want. Weren?t you trained by a youkai yourself? One with hatred for humans no less. Why not take that role up??

?That?s boring nonsense. Where?s the fun if you can?t blow people up yourself?? Marisa muttered.

Sakuya laughed. ?Ah that?s our Marisa.? The maid stood and dusted herself off. ?Well, you?ll have plenty of time to figure out where you stand in Gensoukyo now. If it?s a big deal for now, remember, you can just lie. Reimu?s the only other human you spend time with who will notice.?

Marisa pulled herself up as well. ?I?m not looking forward to that either,? she said.

?Hm, I think you should worry more about Patchouli killing you in a fit of jealousy,? Sakuya replied with a grin. ?She takes pride in her magical abilities, and she hates being shown up by ?a country witch? as she so delicately puts it. She had enough trouble coming to terms with my ability.?

?Huh. I figured she?d be laughing at me.? Marisa dusted off her hat. ?At least there?s some silver lining to this cloud. I should get back and annoy Patchy more.?

Dizzy H. "Muffin" Muffin · « **Reply #102 on:** November 12, 2012, 04:45:35 AM »

Hee. That last bit was pure Marisa, right there. X3

Iced Fairy · « **Reply #103 on:** November 16, 2012, 10:55:40 PM »

Patchouli groaned and shifted in her seat to try to get her spine to return to a solid state. Koakuma?s backrubs were... intense. It didn?t help that the little devil had decided to hang onto her back. She turned her eyes on Alice, who looked far too smug. ?Treachery on all sides.?

Alice chuckled lightly as Shanghai stuck out her tongue. ?Sorry Patchouli. I had to make a deal with the devil earlier. And I?m afraid you were the only acceptable sacrifice.?

?You didn?t like it Miss Patchouli?? Koakuma asked. Patchouli idly wondered how Koakuma managed to sound sultry and hurt at the same time. Perhaps it was an innate skill for her kind. Fortunately over eighty years of living with the little devil had allowed Patchouli to gain the skill to keep a straight face.

?It distracted me from the papers,? Patchouli replied. She pushed herself somewhat upright, then moved one of Marisa?s formula notes to the center of the table. ?I still want to understand this nonsense after all.?

Alice nodded. ?You?re right.? She leaned over to peer at the paper Patchouli had selected out. ?Do you think the answer is here??

?Yes.? Patchouli tapped the intricate circular design that took up most of the middle of the paper. ?This is the spell Marisa cast to enchant the potion. The one truth of potion crafting and alchemy is that without magic, the results are just a slurry. If magic isn?t required it?s mere herbalism.?

?Really?? Shanghai folded her arms as Alice blinked. ?Odd that none of my books mention this.?

Patchouli felt Koakuma?s nod of assent from behind her. ?The terms are a little unofficial. It was more important back when the church was around. That way you knew which potions you could make without revealing yourself as a witch.?

?Ah that explains it.? Alice turned back to the paper as Shanghai grinned. ?Being a witch in Makai is a sign of power, as opposed to a trip to the stake. You wouldn?t want to advertise what you could do without having magic of your own.?

?That makes good sense.? Patchouli shifted again to try to get Koakuma to stop pressing so closely against her back. Fortunately Koakuma took the hint and found herself a chair.

?In any case I think if we untangle the central spell I think we can figure out what happened.? Patchouli looked down at the runes with a hiss of distaste. ?Though I can?t stand what she does to the Hebrew language. It?s nearly blasphemy.?

?Actually a lot of the time it is blasphemy,? Koakuma said cheerily. ?It?s one of her good points.?

?Ah, I didn?t know you had it in you Marisa. I thought you were rather agnostic.? Patchouli looked up at Sakuya?s voice to see the maid and Marisa walking back towards them. A certain amount of spring had returned to the young witch?s step Patchouli noted, along with the normal mischievous gleam in the eye.

?I figure if any god cares they?ll complain. That?s what Kanako did after all.? Marisa dropped into a chair. ?Anyway that?s a double spell there Patchy. I used numerology and the syllable ordering in Japanese to get two stanzas into one.?

Patchoui stared in disbelief at Marisa?s smug expression. That girl really had no idea what she was doing did she? Yes you could pack more spell into a smaller area that way, and admittedly it would be quite helpful for a number of the more complex youkai spells she was researching but... Patchouli shook her head to clear the idea out. Mixing alphabets and numerological systems was a recipe for disaster.

Sakuya gave the group a bow. ?Well I fear the conversation will be too complex for me to contribute, so I?ll take my leave. Farewell.?

?Thank you for the tea, Sakuya,? Alice said. Marisa and Koakuma just waved. Patchouli simply returned to looking at the paper. Perhaps Marisa?s odd spellcraft had something to do with it...

?I?m curious Marisa, why do you use Hebrew?? Koakuma asked. ?You have no faith at all in the God of the plagues, and you don?t use a Makai style of magic.?

?I could ask the same of you ya know,? Marisa said. ?Why do you Makai people use it? Latin?s easier, and you?re more eastern than western in the end.?

Patchouli looked up over at Alice. "I have to admit, that is a good question Marisa.?

Shanghai hid behind her owner as Marisa and Koakuma also turned their gaze to Alice. The puppeteer blinked a few times, then closed her eyes to think. ?Hm... Why use Hebrew... Ah! Now I remember.? Alice pointed at Koakuma. ?Mother said it was easier to create demons like her with Hebrew. The language just works better for them, and they have an easier time in the outside world. She uses Chinese for the more eastern demons.?

Patchouli nodded. That made sense. She turned to Koakuma. ?So that?s why you claim to be Jewish.?

Koakuma turned her head, sniffed and put on a pair of prop glasses. ?I do not pretend to be Jewish. I am a practicing demon of the Jewish faith. I don?t commit sins on Yom Kippur just for fun you know.?

?You do seem to have a lot of fun doing it though,? Patchouli replied. Patchouli remembered some of those attempts at sinning well. Admittedly it was much more amusing now that Koakuma could split her attention between multiple victims.

?Was that when you had the pork banquet?? Marisa asked suspiciously.

Alice nodded while Shanghai moved to inspect Koakuma?s new glasses look. ?Don?t forget those cheeseburgers specifically made with the mothers milk.?

Marisa shuddered. Apparently she still hadn?t gotten over the accident with the bacon grease that had happened afterwards. It hadn?t actually been Koakuma?s fault that time but.... ?So Patchy, what did you find.?

Patchouli looked back to the spell ring. ?I found that your numerology gives me headaches.? She scanned over the Hebrew a few more times before shaking her head. ?You should just write out your secondary spell. It will save us time.?

Marisa smirked, but the expression rapidly faded. ?Point. Should I put it in the hirigana or kanji??

?Both please,? Alice said. ?If this was a side effect then it could be from either system.?

?Right.? Marisa wrote out the two lines in her ?art? penmanship. Patchouli had heard that it was terrible calligraphy from Reimu, but it was a damn sight more readable in Patchouli?s mind. And far better than Marisa?s normal scrawl.

The four moved in to peer at the paper. ?Hm...? Alice cocked her head. ?That?s a pretty good limitation. You specifically prevented the spell from performing Shashoku while leaving alternative paths open. Weren?t you a little worried about burning yourself out though??

Marisa pointed at the outer ring. ?First rule Mima taught me, always keep your spells from pulling more power than you got. Doesn?t always work but it?s a good safety tip.?

Patchouli raised an eyebrow. ?That is good advice. I admit to skipping it sometimes for more complex spells due to the interactions, but-?

?But you should use it all the time Miss Patchouli,? Koakuma?s stated sternly. ?You remember what happened in Makai.?

?That wasn?t a mistake in the spell limitation. It was a mistake in the results,? Patchouli lied. She really hated being reminded of that error. To be fair that specific limiter wouldn?t have helped. After all it was more a matter of numbers but-

?Ah!?

Patchouli stared down at the kanji line. Of course. ?Koakuma, please figure out the numerology of the stroke count in Marisa?s little sub spell here.?

Marisa looked confused, while Alice and Shanghai both started in surprise. ?You don?t mean...?

?It?s one. Wait!? Koakuma gasped then snatched up the paper, eyes running back and forth over the lines. ?It?s... exactly one hundred.?

Patchouli nodded. ?And that explains everything.?

Marisa and Alice both stared at her in confusion. Patchouli stretched a little in victory. It was good to put the youngsters in their place every now and then. ?This is the danger of working with multiple systems. If you use numerology one way there?s a chance it will work backwards as well.? Patchouli tapped the circle. ?Normally if you ask a spell to do something impossible it simply fails. This spell should have failed, since it?s impossible to become immortal via normal magic without becoming a magician. However you gave the spell a loophole.?

?A loophole?? Marisa shook her head. ?How? What does having exactly one hundred strokes mean??

Patchouli scrawled 100 onto the paper. ?In numerology pure exponentials of ten have greater meaning. They are both one and more than one. In this case you have a one going through two transitions. Thus....?

The other three women (and one doll) looked at each other then back to her. ?Could you perhaps explain that again?? Alice asked.

?Perhaps a picture will suffice.? Patchouli tapped her hand on the table and an illusion of the magician card popped up. ?Card number one, transformed twice.?

Patchouli enjoyed the silence as her reasoning slowly set in. Alice was first to realize it, as Shanghai?s hand went slack. Koakuma and Marisa went slack jawed seconds later. ?You mean I made it magically impossible to complete the spell as I intended, so it abused numerology to justify skipping up straight to full ageless magician?? Marisa sputtered.

?Yes.? Patchouli tapped the number again. ?Highly improbable. Near impossible I?d say. But with magic anything is technically possible. The sudden shift probably cured the poisons in your bloodstream. That must be how you survived the process.?

There was another round of silence as everyone considered the matter.

?You are the luckiest person I?ve ever met, Marisa,? Alice said. ?It?s the only way you aren?t dead.?

?Apparently so.? Marisa sighed. ?I was hoping this was because of the position of the stars or some other power beyond my control. Not because of some magical nonsense buried in my spell.?

?To be fair, I don?t think anyone could have seen that coming Marisa,? Koakuma said. ?I mean, it is something of a stretch.?

Patchouli looked down at the spell again. While it rankled her traditional aesthetics it was a masterwork of potion craft and spell design. Marisa had to have spent years tweaking it over and over. Especially the rune placement. It was a dedication to the craft that most magicians just didn?t have.

She looked up from the notes to Gensoukyo?s newest magician. It was time to come to a decision. She had an idea where Alice stood, and she knew Koakuma had a very strong interest in the thief as well. At this point the only thing standing in her way was pride.

She nodded to herself. She wasn?t Remilia. She could take some hits to her pride.

She turned her chair so she could face both Alice and Marisa. ?Well then. Now that you?ve become a full magician Marisa I have an offer to make.?

?Eh?? The Alice and Marisa spun to face her. ?An offer??

Koakuma?s eyes widened and her headwings started flapping happily. ?You mean-!?

?Yes.? Patchouli steepled her hands. ?I think it would be to our mutual benefit if we formed a coven.?

The two younger magicians stared at her a bit in surprise. ?Seriously?? Alice asked. ?Ritual pact and everything??

?Do people even do that anymore?? Marisa shook her head. ?Sure I?m not exactly a magical history scholar, but haven?t damn near all the covens broken up by now??

Patchouli sniffed. ?The best witches actually did things. Performed experiments and altered the destiny of nations. Unfortunately doing things instead of hiding in the far realms tends to have a higher attrition rate. Most magicians over a thousand years are barely worthy of the name. That Byakuren woman outdoes them, and she?s quit researching the arts.?

Alice raised an eyebrow at that. ?So we should join you because it increases our chances of being killed??

?If either of you two was that worried about being offed by a mob of angry villagers you?d have kept a much lower profile.? Patchouli stated. ?The only one of us who could disappear at this point is you Alice, and I imagine you would find that incredibly dull.?

?I suppose...? Alice leaned back in her chair. ?So what would this entail then??

Patchouli nodded to Koakuma. ?The contract if you would??

?Of course!? Koakuma sprang to her feet and pulled three sheets of magical writings from her pocket and placed them down on the table. Apparently she?d been keeping it on her at all times, Patchouli mused. The little devil obviously liked the idea.

As Marisa and Alice inspected their copies, Koakuma dragged over a blackboard and pulled a pointer from her pocket. ?As you can see this is a very weak contract. It doesn?t disallow combat between the members, though it reinforces the spell card rules. Gensoukyo is no fun without a little action after all. Even if it?s not my kind of action. I mean it would be so much better if...?

The three magicians sighed as one. ?Get on with it,? Patchouli muttered.

Koakuma coughed. ?The main points of the compact are as follows. Research materials are shared between the members, though spells can be kept secret. That means you two can borrow books, but we get to take them back whenever we want.?

?That does sound superior to the normal method,? Alice replied.

Marisa folded her arms behind her head. ?I dunno. I kinda like the shooting part of borrowing. Though I suppose I can pick a fight whenever.?

?If you want to blast off Koakuma?s clothes I?m sure she?d be willing to oblige you,? Patchouli commented. She smirked as Marisa broke into sputtered protests. Fortunately Marisa was behind her so the younger witch couldn?t see the expression. But since Shanghai was altering between amusement and annoyance she signalled Koakuma to continue.

Koakuma winked then tapped another point. ?Since it?s a ritual binding you?ll also be able to combine your magics more efficiently. If you want to that is. You?ll also find it easier to call upon energy sources that one of you is familiar with. So Alice and Marisa will find elemental magics slightly easier, while Miss Patchouli will have a better time with emotion based magics.

?That does sound useful,? Alice said. ?I?ve had issues with elemental spirits in the past.?

?Also as part of the spell you three will be able to locate each other at any time with concentration. Of course it?s not exact, and it won?t pass your normal scrying wards, so no worries about anyone looking in at a bad time.?

Koakuma stood up straight and tall and grinned widely. ?And finally you all get me~!?

Patchouli coughed and spun to face the other two magicians. ?I?d best explain it before Koakuma finds the proper double entendres.?

?Aw, Miss Patchouli,? Koakuma pouted. ?I promise none of it will be proper.? Patchouli ignored her.

?What that means is you?ll be sharing the familiar bond with me,? Patchouli stated. ?It?s something Mai worked out with Yuki. We used it to maintain my bond with Koakuma?s sister Elle while still giving those two the status as her master.?

Alice and Marisa nodded in understanding. ?Seems like Mai really knows her demons.? Marisa said. ?Too bad she didn?t have any slave types when I went against her in Makai. Fight was kinda dull with her just sticking to ice chunks.?

?Anyway I?m not giving you Master status over Koakuma, just a link.? Patchouli narrowed her eyes to make the matter clear. Koakuma was hers first until the little devil complained otherwise. ?Still that does mean she?ll be disposed to aid you, and have the innate mental connection to know how best to go about it.?

She turned to Marisa. ?Though it also means she?ll know exactly how far she can push her jokes before you get really mad. You?d best be prepared for that.?

?Hmph.? Marisa rolled her eyes. She wasn?t aware of Koakuma?s true power. Oh well. Patchouli wasn?t going to tell her.

Marisa tapped the table a few times. ?Right, so why us?? Alice rested her head on her hands, obviously interested in the answer as well.

Patchouli first nodded towards the puppeteer. ?Alice?s choice should be obvious. You possibly have the most raw power among the magicians of Gensoukyo, if you ever decided to actually cut loose. In addition you have a unique magical talent in doll creation and manipulation. I don?t think any other magician possesses your artistry. Finally I enjoy your presence.?

She turned to Marisa. ?Meanwhile you have a staggering array of skills for someone as haphazardly taught as yourself. Your ability to create new magics and steal other people?s spells is both infuriating and terrifying. And your mastery of danmaku combat is comparable to the shrine maiden?s.? Patchouli sighed. ?Finally this is the only way I?m getting my books back now that you?re immortal.?

Marisa laughed. ?Really? I figured you?d be threatening to kill me.?

?Koakuma would pout at me if I actually killed you,? Patchouli replied.

Koakuma nodded. ?For weeks. Months even.?

?Well we can?t have that,? Alice commented. ?So then, why only us??

Patchouli nodded. ?Well partially because there?s no one else really worth inviting in. Byakuren has abandoned worldly concerns. Mai and Yuki aren?t leaving their mansion in Makai. Ellen isn?t the type to bind herself to a group, even lightly. Marisa?s tutor Mima remains dead, which sadly disqualifies her even if she was moving about. And no one else we?ve met is worthy of the invitation.?

?But primarily because we are uncommonly well suited for it.? Patchouli looked both the other magicians in the eye. ?We are all active in Gensoukyo?s affairs to some degree. We have similar styles of magic, but different focuses. And we form an auspicious grouping.?

Koakuma smiled. ?Three ladies. The spinner, the weaver and the cutter,? Koakuma pointed to Marisa, Alice and Patchouli in turn.

Shanghai fluttered around as Alice lowered her head in thought. ?I see. This does make sense....?

Marisa rocked back and forth on her chair chewing her lip. Patchouli turned towards her. If Marisa agreed Alice was sure to follow.

Finally Marisa allowed her chair to fall to the ground with a thump. She looked up and Patchouli was surprised to see the young witches eyes glowing brightly. ?I agree on one condition. My apprentices get access to the library too.?

?You?re planning on taking apprentices, Marisa?? Alice asked. Shanghai moved to flutter around the gold eyed witch. ?What brought this on??

Marisa pulled her hat brim down a bit. ?It?s just a thought for now. I?m not planning it soon. And don?t worry about me starting a school or anything. But I wanna keep my options open.?

Patchouli nodded. Well it?s not like someone could do more damage than Marisa. ?I?d agree to that. Alice? Your thoughts??

Alice closed her eyes while Shanghai paced. ?I think.... I want to talk to someone first.?

?Eh?? Patchouli blinked in surprise.

Marisa looked equally confused. ?You?re gonna ask Shinki??

?No.? Alice looked over at Koakuma. ?I think we need to have a long talk Koakuma.?

?EH!?? Koakuma flinched away as Alice?s gaze fell upon her. ?Why??

Alice raised an eyebrow as Shanghai put her hands on her hips. ?I believe I told you we?d have to have a talk earlier, yes??

Koakuma?s eyes opened wide. ?Ah! You?re right.? The little devil hopped to her feet. ?Lead on Lady Alice.?

Seeing that her familiar was no longer in panic mode Patchouli relaxed a little as well. ?Then I guess we?ll wait for you here.?

Marisa seemed just as confused as Patchouli felt, but the witch just waved. ?Have fun you two.?

Alice gave them both a nod. As the two left Alice said over her shoulder. ?You two might consider talking to each other while we?re out. Especially given you?ll be seeing even more of each other. And of us.?

Patchouli blinked and looked at Marisa. The other witch blinked then leaned back and looked at the ceiling. Patchouli sighed. This was going to be an... interesting chat.

Achariyth · « **Reply #104 on:** November 17, 2012, 08:43:12 AM »

Spinner, weaver, and cutter... a less contentious choice than maiden, mother, and... the other one. Interesting read. I'm looking forward to more.

Iced Fairy · « **Reply #105 on:** November 18, 2012, 04:31:34 AM »

Quote from: Achariyth on November 17, 2012, 08:43:12 AM

Spinner, weaver, and cutter... a less contentious choice than maiden, mother, and... the other one. Interesting read. I'm looking forward to more.

Actually Maiden (Maiden Thief), Mother (Mother of Dolls) and Crone (Crone of Knowledge) actually fit better. My Patchouli wouldn't be too annoyed by the term, but Koa knew if she put it that way Marisa would laugh, and then a fight would start. And danmaku makes conversation hard.

Dizzy H. "Muffin" Muffin · « **Reply #106 on:** November 18, 2012, 06:11:01 AM »

Hm, yeah, Patchouli is ... probably older than Marisa or Alice, too~

Iced Fairy · « **Reply #107 on:** December 10, 2012, 09:43:00 PM »

Koakuma followed after Alice into the library. She tried to stay calm, but Shanghai?s stare from over Alice?s shoulder made it felt like she was being escorted to prison. Imagining all the fun things that could be done with handcuffs helped, but only a little.

Finally they reached another lounge area. The two sat down in chairs across from each other, Koakuma taking the one with holes for her wings.

A few moments passed as Shanghai flitted back and forth across the area. Koakuma wasn?t really sure what Alice wanted to ask. Or perhaps it was more she didn?t know what Alice wanted to ask first.

Finally Alice sighed. ?Well let?s start with the basics. I always assumed your interest in Marisa was more... work related.?

Koakuma blinked. ?Well there?s some of that. As the Librarian demon I?m attracted to everyone who seeks knowledge. But it?s more than that. She?s got so many great qualities. She?s fun to tease, and wonderfully clever in hilarious ways. She?s an irreverent thief, and a general nuisance.? Koakuma smiled at Alice. ?You like her for those qualities too right??

Alice frowned at the litany. ?Somehow I don?t think that?s why I?m attracted to her. In fact those seem like a lot of her more annoying qualities.?

Koakuma shrugged. ?Well I suppose you?d say you liked her determined attitude and carefree nature, but they?re the same thing right??

?That?s...? Alice?s frown turned into a sigh. ?Well that?s arguable. Still I see what you?re saying.? Alice smiled a little. ?And it is fun to sweep the rug out from under her.?

?See. I knew you had fine taste Lady Alice.? Koakuma replied.

Alice tapped her fingers against the table. ?And I imagine you have an attraction towards Patchouli for the same reason. You enjoy trying to break her cool.?

Koakuma felt a warmth run up her wings. ?Well yes, that?s fun. But well...? Koakuma couldn?t help but grin foolishly. ?She?s also the only person who called upon me for my work skills, instead of just eye candy that could help around the mansion.?

Alice?s expression softened into a smile. ?I see.? Shanghai covered her cheeks and fluttered back and forth a bit as the puppeteer hummed in thought. ?Yes Patchouli is uniquely romantic. Not always in a good way, but always unique.?

Koakuma?s headwings twitched a bit at that. ?Yeah, the dragon heart was entirely her idea. Er, as was the tome of chocolate summoning. I sometimes wish she?d ask me for hints.?

?I think it?s a certain part of her charm,? Alice replied. ?It at least helps her stand out. Besides you?d have suggested a book on seduction spells.?

Koakuma crossed her arms. ?That?s nonsense! I?d have told her to give you a book on binding spells.?

Alice shook her head. ?As if that was any better.? Alice leaned back. ?Still I think I see it now. Neither of them care about our status, for good or ill. They don?t care that you?re a lowly succubi, and they don?t care that I?m Alice, The Girl of Death.?

The puppeteer looked out into the distance while Shanghai paced, then turned towards Koakuma. The little devil fought to keep from squirming as Alice?s gaze focused in on her. ?And with that we come to the big problem. Where do we stand, Koakuma??

Koakuma tried to focus on Shanghai. ?What do you mean?

?You know very well what I mean.? Alice put her hands on the table. ?I?m quite aware you?re trying to set up a group relationship between the four of us. And while setting up this coven isn?t going to make that a certainty, the four of us being in close proximity will mean we?ll have to start facing our personal issues sooner rather than later.? Alice held up two fingers. ?The first issue of course is the fact that Marisa and Patchouli don?t exactly mesh well.? Koakuma fought to keep from flinching as Alice pointed at her. ?The second issue is that you are afraid of me.?

Koakuma felt her wings twitching she tried not to let it show. ?That?s not...? As Alice?s face fell the little devil could tell her lies weren?t working. Koakuma felt herself shrink a little. ?I?m not afraid of you exactly Lady Alice.? Koakuma tried to avoid cringing at Alice?s frown. ?It?s just... well you call my creator goddess ?Mom.? It?s a little unnerving.?

Alice?s expression didn?t improve, so Koakuma pressed on. ?No honestly. I?m not worried that you?ll kill me personally. It?s just hard for me not worry about the in laws.? Which was completely the truth. If Alice could stand Marisa?s schizophrenic attention anything Koakuma could throw at her would be fine. Angering Lady Shinki on the other hand usually involved waking up with a sword in your head.

Koakuma sat and sweated as Alice stared into her soul. Possibly literally, given the magician?s focus on creating life. Shanghai?s glare muted the seriousness a little, and Koakuma was used to annoying people vastly more powerful than her. The stakes were rarely this high however.

Koakuma jumped as Alice slapped herself on the forehead then slumped onto the table. ?Oh dear lord, I?m becoming my mother.?

?Well that?s not entirely true Alice. I mean, you?d need to go up a cup size at least before that.? Koakuma ducked under the bullet that Shanghai fired at her, then smiled at Alice?s glare. ?You could also smile more.?

Alice glared at her a bit more, than smiled. ?I suppose I?ll accept that for now.? The puppeteer straightened up in her chair. ?It still doesn?t exactly fix things you know.?

Now it was Koakuma?s turn to sigh. ?I know.? The little devil looked up at Alice with her best puppy dog eyes. ?But we can try to work things out right? I mean, we both share the same loves. And I know you?re dying to learn the many ways doll strings can be used for-mph!? Koakuma flinched back as a plush doll smacked her right in the mouth.

?Yes, yes, thank you for showing me you?re trying not to treat me that much differently from anyone else,? Alice muttered. The puppeteer shook her head. ?Well I suppose we?ll see where we stand later. After all I?m still undecided on how much idiocy my mind can take.? Alice mentally retrieved her doll while brushing off her mantle. Koakuma smiled to herself. Maybe she?d never fully get over the differences in their status, but Alice was still plenty of fun to tease.

Then she sobered up. ?Ah, there?s still the big problem. Do you think we should go back and make sure they aren?t fighting??

Alice looked down at the ground and raised her hands in supplication. ?Mother might have to personally intervene to stop those two from fighting. If they can just keep it to words instead of danmaku I?ll consider it a victory.?

?Yeah...? Koakuma tried to gain some semblance of hope from the fact that at least the two liked fighting.

----

Today was turning out to be an odd day, Marisa thought as she stared up at Voile?s ceiling. Better than the last couple of days, but still something of a mess.

?So I take it you?re going to pretend I?m not here while we wait for them to return??

Marisa looked down to see Patchouli frowning at her. ?In case you hadn?t noticed, I haven?t had the best of days. I figured you weren?t looking for a fight, but if you want me to bug you Patchy....?

Marisa?s eyebrows shot up as Patchouli grimaced and nodded. ?As Alice pointed out, we will be speaking with each other more frequently. Which means we should clear the air between us a little now.?

?There?s not exactly much to clear is there?? Marisa shrugged and leaned back in her chair. ?You don?t like how I borrow your books. I like reading. Won?t this pact stop most of it??

Marisa sat up straighter as Patchouli put down the book she was carrying and stared directly at her. ?Marisa Kirisame. I have toiled for over one hundred years to build the greatest personal library of knowledge in the physical world. As one of the few magicians alive from the outside world I personally created entire tomes of spells by myself. At great personal cost I mastered the spells to stop my aging before my thirtieth birthday.? Patchouli stood up. ?Meanwhile you stole my books and spells. Then slapped together a magic potion that surpassed my achievements by accident!?

Marisa got the feeling Patchouli?s issues with her might be a little bigger than what she previously thought.

?Er, well... I can kinda see where you?d be a little annoyed by that.? Marisa shrugged and frowned. ?But I won?t apologize for doing everything I can to become a better magician. Especially since I started behind to begin with. I suppose not giving your stuff back when you asked for it might?ve been a little too far, but I?m not gonna hold back just because you don?t wanna lose.?

Marisa locked her eyes to Patchouli?s as they glared at each other across the table. Fortunately for Marisa, Patchouli had the physical presence of a wet beach towel. Unfortunately Patchouli was used to having Flandre use her vampire intimidation tricks on her. Neither budged.

In the end Patchouli smirked. ?Well I suppose we are similar in that one way. Whatever it takes to become the greatest magician alive. Though I imagine we have rather different ideas on what that means.? Patchouli relaxed back into her chair, and Marisa followed suit. ?But you understand my pride as a youkai demands I humble you at least once.?

?Ha!? Marisa smirked back. This was more her style. ?Sure, anytime. But you?d better be okay with the results, no matter how it ends.?

?Hm? You think I?m planning to lose?? Patchouli replied.

Marisa wagged her finger at the elder magician. ?You might know more about magical theory, but I know more about fighting and losing.? She sighed. ?If you fight Reimu a lot you gotta get used to losing after all.?

Marisa shrugged. ?Anyway it?s okay to hate losing, but you gotta be able to take a loss.? She frowned at Patchouli. ?That?s why Alice never goes all out anymore. She can?t take a loss like that again. So if you do wanna go at it fine. But don?t pick a fight in any field where you?ll regret losing forever. I ain?t gonna hold back no matter what?s on the line.?

Patchouli snorted. ?I?ve bargained with devils Marisa Kirisame. Don?t tell me how to hedge my bets.? The elder magician sighed. ?The only place I couldn?t stand losing is the one thing that isn?t a competition.?

?Huh?? Marisa started then gave Patchouli a long look. They were in a contest right now? What could that be?

A few seconds later her cheeks flushed as the answer came to her. ?Hey now! You aren?t after Alice just because-?

?Don?t even insinuate that nonsense,? Patchouli snapped. ?My appreciation for Alice is purely unrelated to you.? Marisa shivered a bit as an evil smile spread over Patchouli?s face. ?However I would be remiss to not state that I find the idea of forcing you to beg me to join a more... intimate coven to be a source of great personal amusement.?

Marisa felt her face getting even warmer. There was- This was- Alice wouldn?t let- Well no she might.... And what would Marisa do if Patchouli did....

?Well, you two haven?t started a danmaku battle. I suppose that means your talk went well.?

Marisa spun around, putting those thoughts out of her brain. It wasn?t gonna happen, so she wasn?t going to think about it! ?Alice! You?re back. Fun chat??

----

Alice felt her eyebrow raising in surprise as Marisa turned to greet her. The black white witch had that unique expression that suggested someone had just embarrassed her. Meanwhile Patchouli was looking mildly amused. Perhaps there was some hope for this coven, if nothing else.

She dropped down into the chair while Koakuma moved to sit next to her master. ?Well, I?ve made my decision. If we are all still agreed??

Patchouli nodded. ?Marisa??

Marisa shook her head, then picked up her copy of the deal. ?So we just sign then??

?Sign your True Name.? Patchouli frowned. ?On that note you should probably look into getting yourself a real title or something Marisa, since your name is somewhat well known.?

Alice looked askance at the document. ?True name? I hope there?s some sort of concealment spell on the papers.?

?Of course.? Patchouli sniffed. ?The spell will alter our signatures to fit our pseudonyms afterwards. I won?t even get to see them. Anything else would be far too dangerous.?

?Darn. I was hoping to hear what name would make ?Patchouli Knowledge?, seem like a reasonable pseudonym,? Marisa commented. ?Well then, if that?s it...? The black white witch quickly scrawled some kanji on the paper followed by an arcane rune Alice had never seen before.

Patchouli blinked then nodded. ?It seems I underestimated you again.? The elder magician looked down and scrawled her own signature on the paper.

Alice stretched before picking up the pen and quickly writing out her own true name. First, the name she?d once had as a little girl, then her title from Makai, ?The girl of death?. As she finished the words glowed then shifted into ?Alice Margatroid.?

As the final glow faded Alice felt a strange tingle flow through her. It wasn?t much, but she could feel her abilities being enhanced. It was a very strange feeling because it didn?t come with any sense of increased power, just greater skill. She also somehow knew that Marisa, Koakuma and Patchouli were not only close, but in good health.

?Whoa.? Marisa shook her head. ?That?s gonna take some getting used to.?

?Hm... It?s not too different from gaining a familiar,? Patchouli remarked offhand. ?On that note, I take it that the spell worked for you Koakuma??

Koakuma smiled broadly. ?Yep! I can tell you want to get a book to record the spell?s effects down, Alice wants to start researching how to better flameproof your dolls, and Marisa wants me not to notice the interesting thoughts she was having right when we entered the room.?

?What!? Marisa flushed crimson as everyone turned to look at her. ?That?s not what I was thinking at all! I was worrying about how I was gonna explain this to Reimu, not that nonsense Patchy was going on about!?

?Aha! So I was right!? Koakuma crowed. Marisa blinked then put her forehead against the table. Patchouli just coughed and hid behind her book.

Alice shook her head and sighed. ?I see Patchouli?s warning was perhaps not as explicit as it could have been.? Maybe it was a good thing Koakuma was a little afraid of her. Still she could sympathize with Marisa?s plight. ?Well I shall leave you to thinking up your excuses to Reimu for a bit. Koakuma, could you show me to where the elemental enhancement treatises are??

?Sure!? Koakuma replied sweetly. Patchouli waved as they walked away. Alice was pleased to note that her new power wasn?t affected by distance.

They were about halfway across the library when Koakuma said, ?I also noticed you really wanted to know what Marisa was fantasizing about. Would you like me to use some of my special spells to find out??

Alice kept walking as Shanghai whapped the little devil upside the head with a book. It was probably safest to set limits quickly. Especially since they were now connected.

Still this was going to be an interesting couple of years dealing with everything. She was going to have a lot to write home to mother about.
-----

Marisa landed just outside the shrine entrance and paused. She?d spent the flight over from the library trying to think up how to start the conversation, and in the end she?d thought up nothing.

?Hm??

Reimu appeared under the torii, broom in hand. ?So, what are you doing here today??

Marisa forced a smile. ?Nothing much. Just felt like dropping by. You actually sweeping today??

?I was, but I?m done with it.? Reimu sighed. ?I suppose you?ll want tea then??

?Yep!? Marisa nodded. Tea was a good idea. It?d give her more time to think up a response.

As she followed Reimu up through the torii gates she felt an odd tingling, but as she passed through it faded. It seemed the shrine still had some elements of holiness about it. Still that was the only oddity. She followed Reimu around back and plopped herself on the porch just as always. Reimu went inside to get the tea kettle, while the shrine?s black and white cat wandered over and plopped down on top of her feet.

Reimu wandered back out and put down two cups of tea. ?So, that?s really you Marisa. For a little while I thought it was a tanuki playing tricks on me again. I didn?t think you?d go the youkai magician route.?

Marisa groaned and leaned back. Of course she couldn?t hide it from Reimu. ?Yeah.... It wasn?t really my idea, but mistakes happen.? She picked up the tea and took a sip. ?My immortality potion was all that and more.?

Reimu sipped her tea before giving Marisa a sidelong glance. ?I really don?t understand why you think humanity and immortality can coexist.?

?Yeah, yeah. I got that lecture from Sakuya already,? Marisa slumped forward and looked out over the shrine gardens. ?So, I guess things will be different, huh??

Reimu opened her mouth, then closed it again. The miko actually seemed deep in thought. It wasn?t a side of Reimu that Marisa was used to seeing.

Finally Reimu sighed and rolled her eyes. ?How so? Incidents? You?re still going to bust into my investigations because you?re a thief. The shrine? My shrine is already infested with youkai, and I never let you near the holy items because, again, you?re a thief. Donations?? Marisa chuckled as Reimu fixed her with a death glare. ?You never give me those anyway.?

Reimu tossed her hands in the air. ?So what?s the difference? Nothing?s really changed.?

Marisa laughed again before turning towards the gardens. ?I suppose that?ll do for now won?t it.?

?Just don?t get too youkai like or I?ll tell Sanae to exterminate you,? Reimu said.

Marisa thought about that. ?More youkai like then I was before? I wonder what I?d have to do. Hibernate maybe??

?Or only drop by at night.?

?Remilia been bothering you again?? Marisa asked.

?You have no idea,? Reimu groaned. ?Just two days ago...?

The two friends sat and talked together like always, on a perfectly normal day.

linkhyrule5 · « **Reply #108 on:** December 11, 2012, 07:38:33 PM »

Oh, Marisa. Never change.

... that's actually almost literal now, isn't it...

Anyway, I wanna know Marisa's titles~ :p

Hideki · « **Reply #109 on:** December 20, 2012, 02:33:48 AM »

Well, I guess it did end when the shrine maiden complained. Nice job with that.

On another note, I've gone and turned your A New World series into MOBI-format e-books. It's excellent reading on a kindle.

Alfred F. Jones · « **Reply #110 on:** December 20, 2012, 09:43:39 PM »

Quote from: Hideki on December 20, 2012, 02:33:48 AM

On another note, I've gone and turned your A New World series into MOBI-format e-books. It's excellent reading on a kindle.

Is there any way you can upload them so that other people with kindles can read it, too? :3c

Hideki · « **Reply #111 on:** December 21, 2012, 01:56:37 AM »

I kinda wanted to get Iced's approval first, before I go about distributing it.

Iced Fairy · « **Reply #112 on:** December 21, 2012, 02:36:34 AM »

Quote from: Hideki on December 21, 2012, 01:56:37 AM

I kinda wanted to get Iced's approval first, before I go about distributing it.

:* You have it and then some. Just so long as I'm listed as the author I'm cool with it.

Well I suppose you can't sell it but you knew that.

Hideki · « **Reply #113 on:** December 21, 2012, 02:44:30 AM »

Well then, here you go: http://www.mediafire.com/?of818lky76excd1

Iced Fairy · « **Reply #114 on:** December 24, 2012, 07:24:49 PM »

Tokiko looked up at her foe, determination burning in her soul. ?I will have that book, and nothing?s gonna stop me. Not the entire forces of Makai.?

Rinnousuke sighed as he looked down on the bird youkai. ?Look, I said it?s not for sale. Getting a Japanese copy of The Red Book is near impossible. There?s no way you got enough money to make it worthwhile without stealing.?

?Is that so?? Tokiko smiled in triumph as she held up her trump card. ?Then I guess you aren?t interested in this??

Rinnousuke stared at the manga volume held in Tokiko?s clawed hands. ?The eighth volume of Kareshi to Kanojou no Jijou. That?s-!?

?The last volume you need to complete the series.? Tokiko stated smugly, while pointing at the self containing the shopkeepers manga stores. ?Of course if that book isn?t for sale...?

Rinnousuke swore, then grimly readjusted his glasses. ?Alright. It?s a fair trade.? He turned and grabbed the book off the shelf then placed it on the counter. ?One day I?ll figure out where you get your supply.?

Tokiko placed the manga volume down before snatching up the copy of The Red Book. ?Perhaps, but until then you?ll just have to handle trading with me.?

?Hmph.? Rinnosuke shook his head then picked up the manga to verify it was authentic. ?Well, do you have any other business here??

?That?s it. Unless you?re going to give me back the book the shrine maiden stole.? Tokiko gave the man a piercing glare, which Rinnousuke ignored. The half youkai had learned the Kirisame family?s lessons too well. ?All sales are final, even if it wasn?t the seller?s property.?

After a bit more glaring Tokiko turned and left. Fortunately, there was little chance that Rinnosuke would find her hunting grounds. They were in the deeper forests where the youkai were more feral. He wouldn?t dare go there.

Her first mission accomplished she took to wing and headed towards the human village. The day was grey and overcast, but no snow was falling. A few fields of winter wheat and radishes littered the farmlands outside the village proper, but only a few bundled up humans were wandering about. In fact the only parts of the village that was really active were the marketplaces. After all everyone needed food right?

As Tokiko landed in the square a good number of the humans turned glowering faces to look at her. The little youkai crouched, ready to spring away. She thought she?d picked the more youkai friendly part of the city but....

A even voice cut through the silence. ?It?s impolite to fly into town. The proper etiquette is to walk.?

Tokiko turned to see the infamous maid of the scarlet devil mansion standing behind her, arms filled with several bags. Tokiko nodded in understanding, then bowed to the assembled humans. ?Ah, I?m sorry. This is my first time here.?

The shoppers nodded in response to her apology then returned to their business. At least those that hadn?t ignored the matter already. Tokiko breathed a sigh of relief. She didn?t want to lose her chance to buy the things she needed. While it wasn?t necessary for her trip, she?d look bad if she couldn?t finish her mission.

As she began looking around the stalls Sakuya walked up next to her. ?You don?t look like the type of youkai to visit town. Perhaps I could point you to what you?re looking for??

Tokiko nodded meekly as the devilish servant adjusted her bags. ?Um. I need paper for wrapping, a ribbon, and uh some pastries??

?Ah, a simple request. For the first two you wish to see that lady there.? Tokiko turned to see a woman at a cart selling origami paper and charms. ?As for the pastries, I doubt that you will find a vendor of such items. Perhaps you should follow me. I need to speak to a western style baker myself.?

Tokiko considered the matter. The dog of the devil wasn?t a figure most youkai of her status wanted to be hanging around, but it would be better to have a human guide. And the devil?s maid wouldn?t actively hate youkai. ?Thank you. Do you mind if I make my purchases here first??

?That won?t be a problem,? The maid replied.

Tokiko nodded in appreciation and hurried over to where the paper seller was waiting. ?Excuse me Miss Shopkeeper. Do you have some paper capable of covering this?? She pulled out the book to show it to the lady. ?And some ribbon to tie it off??

?Yes I do in fact. Would this be good?? The woman pulled out a heavy yellow sheet and some blue ribbon.

Tokiko nodded happily. ?That would be great!? She fished out two blank scrolls from her dress. ?Do you mind if I pay in barter? These are blank papyrus. Egyptian reeds.?

The shopkeeper peered curiously at her, but accepted one of the scrolls to look over. ?Hm... I don?t care much about it?s origin, but it?s a fine paper.? She nodded and bowed. ?I accept.?

?Thank you!? Tokiko handed over the other scroll before picking up her purchases. She quickly turned and hurried over, so as not to keep Sakuya waiting. ?Thank you for that.?

?Think nothing of it.? Sakuya turned and began walking down one of the streets with long purposeful steps. Tokiko hurried after, trying to match the maid?s pace. ?I do admit to some curiosity. I don?t recall you being on milady?s Christmas guest list. Nor are you a demon of my homeland. Yet you seem to be acquiring a present for the holiday.?

Tokiko blinked. ?Ah, well... My friend Koishi is having a party in the underground.? The bird youkai frowned. ?Um, though I don?t know how I know that, or how she learned about the holiday.?

Sakuya gave a ?Hm...? of consideration, but kept walking. ?How interesting. I wonder if the green shrine maiden is responsible, or she learned it from us.?

They continued on in silence for a bit before arriving next to a small stone building with thick glass windows. The columns of smoke rising from twin chimneys quickly indicated why. Open fires were always a danger in a traditional village, and those businesses that required long term fires usually had switched to western stone construction to protect their neighbors. Sakuya knocked twice, then opened the door. A bell sounded as a wave of warmth and wonderful smells flooded over Tokiko. For a moment the inside seemed to be simply a halo of light.

A few blinks later however her eyes adjusted enough to see a simple bakery. The shopkeeper wore a strange combination of outsider pants and a traditional top, but her bow and accent seemed to be that of a pure Gensoukyo native. ?Hello Miss Izayoi. Are you here for more oil??

?Yes,? the maid replied. ?Olive oil. The same as last time. Three bottles worth.?

The woman shook her head. ?So much. Do you have a lot of lamps burning during the winter??

Sakuya sighed. ?No. I fear Koakuma insists on burning a weeks worth of oil in her menorah each night of Chanukah.? The maid stood aside, letting Tokiko approach the counter. ?In any case I also have a referral for you.?

Tokiko hesitated a bit as the woman turned towards her. The baker?s expression had closed up when she?d realized Tokiko wasn?t just there to aid Sakuya, but the youkai stepped forward anyway. ?Yes. I?m looking for two dozen cookies, if you have them. Other pastries will do as well.?

The woman seemed to relax a little at the request. ?Well, we have many types of cookies here. This is a bakery after all. Is there a particular kind you might be interested in??

Tokiko desperately wracked her mind for some confectionery that might be appropriate for winter. ?Um, pepperkaker??

The woman blinked. ?Ah, I fear I don?t know those.?

?The English term would be Ginger Biscuits,? Sakuya stated. ?Your gingerbread men should be similar enough I believe.?

?I see!? The woman turned around and pulled up a tray of browned cookies that were vaguely humanoid with icing features. ?Will these suffice??

Tokiko smiled broadly ?They?ll be great!? She rummaged around to grab the small pouch that contained a coins she had scrounged up. ?Will this do??

The woman looked over the coins then nodded. ?I?ll get a basket for you then.? Tokiko handed over the coins, then the woman headed to the back. A few moments later she returned with three bottles and a basket that she quickly filed with the confectioneries. Then she put both of them on the table. ?Here you are honored customers. Two dozen gingerbread men and three bottles of olive oil respectively. Please come by again.?

?Thank you!? Tokiko couldn?t keep herself from flying up to the counter and grabbing the basket. When both Sakuya and the shopkeeper chuckled at her enthusiasm, she sank back down to the ground.

?And a good evening to you,? Sakuya said as she put the olive oil into one of her bags. To Tokiko?s surprise the bottles didn?t seem to increase the bags size at all. The maid turned and opened the door with another jingle before heading outside. Tokiko gave the shopkeeper one last bow before flitting off herself.

The cold struck the bird youkai as the door swung shut behind her. Tokiko clutched the precious cargo to her like an egg to help keep them warm. Sakuya chuckled again and started levitating. ?Given the weather I don?t believe anyone would complain if we floated out of the city before taking flight. Shall we be on our way??

Tokiko took to the air immediately. ?Yes, please.? Sakuya nodded then began gliding over the snowy road at a rapid pace. Tokiko followed, wings occasionally flapping as she changed direction.

In almost no time the two flitted out of the gates of the village. Tokiko bowed to the maid. ?Um, thank you again for the help.?

Sakuya smiled at her. ?No problem little youkai. And... Merry Christmas.? And then the maid was gone, leaving behind only a single playing card drifting in the wind.

?Merry Christmas?? Tokiko replied. The bird youkai stood there for a bit, then shrugged and started flying for home. She needed to wrap the present and get to the underground before the cookies got cold.

----

One quick experiment in gift wrapping later Tokiko began her journey to the underground. She?d heard rumors of an elevator near a geyser that could take the traveler right below the Palace of Earth Spirits, but she wasn?t willing to risk it. Instead she took the tried and true path, down the cliff drop at the base of youkai mountain.

The pitch black tunnels worried Tokiko a bit, but she kept her head and let the sound of the water guide her path. While this tunnel required an instinctive understanding of flight to navigate, it was still fairly wide, and the earth spiders didn?t spin webs along it. While Tokiko had read enough to learn earth spiders were pretty friendly creatures to fellow youkai, she didn?t want to waste time hanging upside down in a trap.

Finally the rush of wind and water was drowned out by a roaring torrent. Tokiko folded her wings in and accelerated as a light appeared before her. The light slowly expanded, then rapidly washed across her vision as she zipped over the roaring waterfall. Tokiko allowed herself to drop a hundred feet or so before snapping open her wings and slowly rising into the vast skies of the cavern.

Right beneath her was the warped and rotting bridge to the old hell, the massive waterfall filling the gorge with it?s life giving waters. Further ahead of her past the slight plateau that had allowed the canyon within a cavern to form the cave sloped down to where the river and the cave that it had cut through once again reunited. It was there that the Ancient City stood, and there at the bottom of that cave the Palace of the Earth Spirits stood. The edifice that once housed the judges of all living creatures rising from the deepest part of the cave to tower over the oni?s small buildings.

A scattering of clouds currently hung over the cavern, lightly dusting the city and the palace with snow. Tokiko glided a bit, considering how the weather would affect her flight. Fortunately the snow was light enough that Tokiko would have no trouble flying through it. In fact it might be good as a cloud cover for when she passed over the oni city. She thought about that for a moment, then shook her head and flew lower. The precious cookies she was carrying were wrapped well, but there was no way they?d be able to handle the freezing air of the clouds. Since she was an animal youkai it was safer to take the back alleys of the oni city and hope no one cared enough to question her.

As Tokiko approached she saw this city was far more active than the human village above. Red and blue figures wandered about the streets, heading towards the larger buildings. It seemed the oni cared little for the weather, which meant they were probably all performing their usual duties: drinking.

With this in mind Tokiko glided away from the lights over the darker areas of the village. Some of the mansions here looked fairly big, but most of them looked unoccupied as well. This should keep her away from the crowds.

As Tokiko flew low over the village the Palace stood out even more. It?s strange stained glass and gothic architecture made it seem vastly out of place compared to the city around it. Tokiko wondered if the building had been deliberately designed to stand out. After all once the Yamas had stood in judgement there, passing their sentences upon all who died. They probably wanted people to be in the proper mood to confess their misdeeds instead of try to make excuses and get themselves in further trouble.

?HEY THERE!?

Tokiko shrieked and flapped her wings frantically as turbulence washed over her. She could feel her body tumble at least three times as she desperately tried to both keep ahold of her possessions and stay in the air. Finally she managed to recover her ears ringing with the force of the roar.

?Hah! Looks like I got a little too enthusiastic there!? Tokiko drifted back as a large oni woman drifted up in front of her. The woman was obviously one of the friendlier youkai, as she was using a more humanoid appearance, but she?d nearly taken Tokiko out of the sky just by yelling.

The oni grinned and took a drink from a huge sake dish. ?So you know you aren?t supposed to be here little youkai. Why?d you come down??

?Uh, I?m headed to the Palace of the Earth Spirits. I have to give a gift to my friend there,? Tokiko replied shakily.

The oni girl laughed. ?Going to see the satori? Not many people can stand to be around them. They?re too honest even for us oni.? Tokiko shrank away as the oni leaned forward. ?So whatcha bringing??

Tokiko started considering escape paths. She wasn?t giving up any of her cookies, not even to an oni. ?Just a book and some small gifts for the rest of the house.?

?C?mon, back off Yuugi. The kid?s like forty. You don?t need to keep grilling her.? Tokiko started then turned to see a Tengu fly up from behind one of the giant mushrooms. ?I?m the one who you?re supposed to be stopping. Not that you actually care or anything, since you?ve let me interview you like three times already..?

Tokiko relaxed a little as the oni leaned back and laughed. ?Ah, there you are. I thought this little one was just a distraction, but I guess you two aren?t connected.? Yuugi shrugged. ?Well you?re right, I don?t really care. I just figure I better keep all you surface people honest.? Tokiko squawked as the oni reached out and gave Tokiko a brain rattling hair ruffling.

?And since you were so honest let me give you a present.? Yuugi tossed a bottle underhand to the tengu girl, who caught the missile. ?Give the satori my regards. Anyway now that I?ve reminded you who runs the place I?ve got to get back to the party. Later.?

Tokiko sighed in relief as the oni dropped to the ground and began wandering away. As she checked to make sure she hadn?t dropped anything the young tengu flew over. ?Heya. I?m Hatate Himekaidou.? The woman flipped out a cell phone camera and took a quick picture. ?So who are you and why are you going to see Satori? You one of her new pets??

Tokiko frowned. ?I?m called Tokiko, and I?m going to see Koishi, not Satori. And why are you going? Are you this Satori?s pet??

The tengu blushed. ?Something like that,? she muttered. ?Anyway! There?s apparently some sorta party or something so let?s get to it.? Hatate took off towards the Palace of the Earth Spirits, leaving Tokiko to trail in her wake.

Now that she wasn?t trying to hide the journey through the city was much quicker. Within a couple of minutes the two youkai stood before the great gates of the Palace of Earth Spirits. As Tokiko inspected the engraved steel doors, she realized they didn?t have handles, or even hinges.

?Yeah apparently the Yama liked the whole imposing magically opening doors shtick. Or at least the old ones did. It?s so pre barrier, but there?s no real way to fix the doors now..? Tokiko turned to see Hatate opening a window and hopping in. ?There?s actually a servant entrance around, but this way is faster.? Tokiko blinked a few times, then shrugged and followed the tengu reporter. She had been invited after all.

As she entered the Palace of the earth spirits the air suddenly became pleasantly warm. The checkerboard floor beneath her was perfect for walking, despite being marble. Apparently the heat of hell below was keeping the building safe from the chilling winds and snow outside.

?You came!?

Tokiko yelped as Koishi seemed to appear out of nowhere to grab her in a hug. ?I wondered if you?d gotten my invitation,? the yellow clad satori said. Tokiko found herself being dragged along as Koishi grabbed her hand and flew off into the building. ?Hurry, hurry. We?ve almost finished setting up.? Koishi dragged her down several twisting corridors before finally bursting into a large room. Unlike the darkened halls outside, this room was brightly lit by hovering spirits and several large fireplaces. A few tables stood scattered about covered with foodstuffs, while a tree covered in small glowing mushrooms and colored glass orbs sat to the side.

A great number of heads turned towards the two as they entered. Most of them were some sort of animal. Cats, birds and dogs were the most common, though there were several stranger species as well. The only humanoids in the room were a pink haired satori, a crow youkai, a kassha, and about a dozen fairies in various forms of ?holiday? attire.

?Did you get a new pet Koishi?? The pink haired woman asked with a smile.

Tokiko shook her head violently. ?Hey! I?m a friend, not a pet!? She figured that was best to get out quickly.

?I see. My apologies.? The woman?s eyes widened a little more and her smile softened. ?And I see Hatate is right behind you. Well then. My name is Satori Komeiji, and I?m pleased you could come to my humble abode. Thank you for your gifts. Those cookies sound delicious. I?ll let Koishi do the rest of the introductions.?

Koishi giggled. ?So you can flirt with Hatate, right? Well have fun sis!? Tokiko blinked as Satori blushed redder than her hair, then squawked at Koishi dragged her over towards the tree. ?A lot of sister?s pets never really leave animal form, even though they?re youkai. I?ll introduce you as they shift.?

The first went over to the tree, where the hell raven was peering intently at the glass orbs. Tokiko had to admit they were very very shiny.... She caught herself staring and shook her head just in time to hear Koishi?s introduction. ?Tokiko, this is Utsuho. She?s something like a god now? Also a hell crow.?

?Unyu!? The crow blinked then whirled around. ?Oh hi! Sorry I was looking at the pretty lights. It?s nice to meet you.?

?Nice to meet you.? Tokiko bowed. ?And yes, the orbs are pretty.?

Utsuho nodded happily. ?Ah you understand too! Orin keeps thinking they?re just to play with but you can see their real purpose.?

Koishi pulled her along to where the kassha was trying to teach the fairies how to sing. ?And this here is Rin. She does all the organization around here.?

?Call me Orin,? the kassha replied with a wave. ?Sorry to be so brief. I?ve gotta get this crew in order.? Orin turned back to the fairy mob. ?Alright you lot, it?s 'Merry Christmas', not 'Fairy Christmas.' Get it straight!?

?But I like fairies!? said one of the smaller fairies that still had on zombie makeup under the santa hat.

?Me too!? replied one that was wearing reindeer horns like an oni?s horns.

?I?ll leave you to that then,? Tokiko said as she backed away from the ensuing argument. She headed over to one of the food tables, while Koishi giggled at the display.

Tokiko pulled out the basket of cookies she brought and set them down. ?Is it okay to leave them here?? she asked her host.

?Sure!? Koishi replied ?We?ll get to the eating later. First let me show you where the good drinks are!?

The next hour or so was a blur of action. Tokiko managed to avoid the harder alcohols Koishi suggested, but she was a little tipsy by the time they made it through the drinks. By then Orin had gotten her fairy chorus into something resembling order, and had dragged Utsuho away from the tree in order to join the conversation. The party had developed something of a pattern. Okuu and Orin were the center of the group, and Tokiko, Koishi, Satori, Hatate and the more social pets would move in and out of the discussion circle as their whims or difficulty coping with large numbers of people dictated.

Finally Satori coughed lightly. ?Hm... I think it?s a good time to start eating. Orin could you let your fairies help the pets that want to stay in animal form??

?Sure thing miss Satori,? the kassha replied.

As the fairies began moving some of the more raw dishes down to ground level, Tokiko slowly drifted over towards the higher table. She didn?t want to seem pushy about being first in line, but...

?You want to be first in line. I see, I see.?

Tokiko whirled in surprise to find the two Komeiji sisters staring at her with smirks. ?Ooh. You?re subconsciously moving back towards the table even though we?re watching. I?m impressed!? Koishi said.

?Well someone has to be first,? Tokiko protested.

?Ufufufu. How honest.? Satori replied. ?Well you are Koishi?s friend, so feel free to go first. She turned to look over at Hatate. ?And of course you should go second, as my guest.?

?Thanks,? Hatate muttered. Tokiko just bowed her head and made for the foodstuffs. This was a better meal than she?d had in years. Admittedly some of the dishes contained bird meat, which was a little weird, but she noticed they were all on red plates, so she avoided those. Hatate did the same, but the others, including Utsuho didn?t. Tokiko guessed crow youkai were willing to eat anything, just like their normal cousins.

As she grabbed one of the gingerbread cookies Orin?s ears perked up. ?Oh, hey! Those cookies are human shaped sis? I didn?t think humans would make foods like that.?

Hatate nodded and took a snapshot, ?Yeah that?s a good point. Those skull candy thingies were for a death ceremony. Isn?t this supposed to be some religious holiday??

?Perhaps they didn?t think about the symbolism.? Satori said as she grabbed one for herself. ?Sometimes people just do things for their own amusement after all.?

?Ahaha, that?s true, sis!? Koishi said. ?Still it?s kinda fun to make stuff up after the fact.?

?Ah!? Utsuho stopped scooping up potatoes as a thought struck her. ?Now that I think about it, I got my powers around this time of the year. Maybe we can steal the holiday.?

?Ooh! That?d be sweet!? Orin?s tails lashed. ?And ?lo a goddess dropped in from above and said to her, ?Take, eat, and be blessed with the power of the sun...?

?That sounds kinda cool, but doesn?t it end with you getting beat up by that shrine maiden and the witch?? Hatate pointed out.

Orin?s smile turned to a frown. ?Yeah that time did kinda suck.?

Okuu laughed nervously. ?Yeah, I?m sorry about that.?

?Ah, on that note you should try some of this.? Tokiko looked over as Koishi put two slices of dried meat on her plate. ?It?s Orin?s special human jerky.?

?With real human?? Tokiko looked at the dish with newfound awe. A youkai like her had never tasted the delicacy before.

Koishi nodded. ?Yep. We get a lot of corpses because of the river. They aren?t really useful for normal dishes, but you can make jerky with it. Orin?s the best at it.?

Tokiko couldn?t wait anymore. She grabbed a piece and started to chew. The flavors were mostly spices, but she got a hint of the meat as she slowly worked over the jerky. ?Kinda like pork.?

The two wandered off to sample the various delicacies near the fire. Tokiko was pleased that the gingerbread was every bit as good as promised, and the rest of the underground dishes were as good if not better than the human meat.

As the meal wound down Tokiko found herself drowsing off a little. It was night outside, and unlike a lot of youkai, she still had diurnal habits. Not to mention the good food and warmth were calling to her.

?Hm... You can?t fall asleep yet.? Tokiko snapped out of her reverie and looked over to see Koishi smiling and holding out a package. ?You haven?t opened your present yet.?

?Ah! That?s right!? Tokiko reached into her pockets and pulled out the wrapped present. ?This time I have one for you as well.?

?Ah? Thank you!? Koishi smiled widely as they exchanged the gifts. ?Shall we open them then??

?Of course!?

Tokiko waited for Koishi to unwrap her present first. The satori girl smiled as she saw the book inside. ?The Red Book? Well it is red. Ah, it?s in Japanese too. What?s it about??

?It?s what the outside world people think about some of your powers,? Tokiko said.

?Oh!? Koishi giggled. ?That?s always good for a laugh or two. And sometimes they?re even right!? The other girl looked over at Tokiko. ?Now open yours!?

Tokiko opened the paper carefully. She blinked when she saw the brightly colored covers that had been hidden away. ?Hatoful Boyfriend??

?I know you?re an ibis youkai, well part ibis anyway, but I figured a manga about pigeons would be fine!? Koishi replied with her usual wide grin. Tokiko shrugged and smiled in return. Any reading was good reading to her.

?Thank you, Koishi.? Tokiko put the books away for now. She?d have plenty of time to read more in depth later. ?So, what should we do now??

?Hm... Let?s relax by the fire a little more. I think Orin has marshmellows somewhere, so everyone will be joining us in a little bit.?

?That sounds good.? Tokiko yawned then moved some pillows over to lay in front of the merry blaze. Koishi lay down beside her, humming a tune that only the satori could follow. Soon one of Satori?s hedgehogs and a two tailed fox youkai came over and nestled next to them.

All in all it was a wonderful evening Tokiko thought.

?Yes it is,? Koishi replied.

The two slowly fell asleep there. The others would wake them when they were needed again.

Dizzy H. "Muffin" Muffin · « **Reply #115 on:** December 26, 2012, 04:47:41 AM »

... Both of those presents are the best thing ever. XD

(I had to look up the Red Book, but ...)

Iced Fairy · « **Reply #116 on:** March 05, 2013, 04:36:11 PM »

The fic I will never write:

So when Rou posted this short I'd had the idea for something floating around in my head. Patchouli decides she wants to have an alternate form for each day of the week, and gets Mai to send her a book on demons to get some transformation ideas in. Unfortunately her clothing doesn't withstand the transformation very well, so she has to ask Alice for sewing help and Marisa for enchantment help. They of course insist on getting in on the spellcasting fun and things progress from there.

In the end I didn't end up writing it because it wasn't a good story. It's a series of skits focusing on visual cues that just aren't that interesting in print form. Also I STILL can't think up a good set for Sun (and the moon set kinda sucks).

However Stuffman has created a wonderful picture of one of the transformations, and added a good chunk of character to it as well. I'm pretty sure I'm going to ask for the water variants, and I find myself drawn to writing out skits to go along with each set, pic present or not.

Full size link

M: "This is Awesome! Fire at will, no spell required!"

A : "Damn it, be careful with that, Marisa! I'm fire resistant not fire immune."

P : "Hm... You're awfully scaly for a amphibian there Marisa."

M: "What do you mean by that? And how'd you get to be a dragon anyway? You aren't THAT powerful."

A: "We keep telling you western dragons are different Marisa. And I imagine Patchouli is a dragon because of her book hoard."

P: "It's not a horde. It's a library."

M: "If you wanna call it a library you should let more people read the books."

A: "Indeed."

P: "Hmph."

[Water: Mermaid, Scyla, Slime]

P: "Ah, this is more fitting. Now you're a slimy thief in truth."

A: "Ahahaha~"

M: "Hey! I'm not... well I'm not normally slimy. Anyway what's up with your transformation? Isn't that form useless on land?"

P: "... Mukyu."

M: "And Alice, what's with all the tentacles?"

A: "I kind of like them. I can hold eight more dolls now!"

P: "Very versatile. I suppose water does mirror our natures well."

A: "However slimy they may be."

M: "Rrrrgh, That's it! Slime geyser!"

[Wood: Dryad, Alrune, Myconid]
A: "Jeeze Marisa. Your obsession with Mushrooms goes too far sometimes."

M: "No such thing. And you seem to be picking up tentacles a lot. Something you ain't telling us?"

A: "Ugh. Well at least Patchouli's form makes sense. If a little dull."

P: "Indeed. I find myself slower but definitely hardier. I just hope I'm not bound to one of the trees around here."

M: "Why's that? Gensoukyo's not really big enough for you to be that far away from it, and it's not like someone's going to go logging in the forest of magic."

P: "No but you two might blow it up."

A: "Wait! Why am I part of this?"

M: "I suppose we do tend to fight a lot here..."

[Metal Dullahan, Mecha(Aigis style), Mimic]
A: "Oh dear. It seems Patchouli has... lost her head."

M: "Ouch."

P: "What would your mother say about that level of punnery?"

A: "I give it a 98.76 percent probability that she would laugh."

M: "That does sound like Shinki."

P: "And how did you end up in that form Marisa? I would expect you to be plundering dungeons. Not lying it wait to ambush the plunderers."

M: "Dungeons? Why'd I hide there? People take stuff out of dungeon chests. I'm gonna go hide in shops and wait for people to throw stuff in!"

P: "Ah. Silly me."

A: "Ah, and here I thought it was the only way you were going to get a larger chest size."

M: "WHAT?!"

P: "Is there a kappa nearby? Our Alice seems to need adjustments."

[Earth: Mud Golem, Medusa, Gargoyle]

M: "Ahahaha, who's the slimy one now?"

P: "Irksome. While this form is hardy, it's bad for the books."

M: "Or the floor. There's no way Sakuya's letting you back inside the mansion like that!"

P: "I'm sure she'd be happy to have you as a lawn ornament however. As soon as she stops you from flitting about."

A: "You're enjoying this far too much Marisa."

M: "Oooh. That glare makes me all tingly, Alice"

A: "Figures. The one time I get an ability to make you less annoying you develop a resistance."

M: "You wouldn't really turn me to stone would you Alice?"

A: "Only for a week. Or two."

P: "I'm wondering how you ended up as something that wards off evil."

M: "One master spark and any youkai will go running right?"

P: "I suppose that makes some sense."

[Moon: Werebat, Werecat, Wererat]

P: "At last the rat shows her true colors."

M: "Hey, the only difference between you and me is wings."

P: "Ha! How plebeian. Alice understands the difference at least."

M: "Is that so? What do you think Alice?"

A: "I think you both look delicious~"

M: "What? Wait, put the puppet wires down!"

A: "Nyahahahaha~"

P: "Ack! Are you high, Alice?"

M: "Oh right, my catnip plants...."

---

phoenix marisa, winged serpent alice, yatagarasu patchy
And there you go. Useless writing with no purpose.

OkashiiKisei · « **Reply #117 on:** March 24, 2013, 03:40:44 PM »

This actually would be interesting to see in a full story, but I can imagine that's easier said than done. It indeed sounds like it would rely more on visual gags. Never the less, I like the idea. You picked out very fitting forms for the girls, and they correspond well with each element. I find Mimic!Marisa particularly clever. :V I look forward to the rest of the drawn designs. Stuffs did great work~
As for Sun forms, perhaps these suggestions will help?
- Yatagarasu (obvious choice)
- Phoenixes (ditto)
- Scarabs (Egyptian myth associated them with the sun, as the dung balls they make had the same shape)
- Cats (Also Egyptian myth. A cat's big eyes shined like the sun. For this reason cats were worshiped)
- Snakes/Naga (Egyptian sun god Ra clashes with the snake demon Apep every single day. If Apep wins, the sun won't rise again. Cherokee myth has snakes almost destroying the sun too)
- Wolves (Similar to the above myth, the demon wolf Sk?ll chases the Norse sun goddess Sol to eat her, but never succeeds (until Ragnarok that is))
- Hummingbirds (There is an Aztec sun god that often manifests as a hummingbird)
- Quetzalcoatls (Among other things, Quetzalcoatl was the god of dawn)
- Sun-devouring demons and dragons (This is the explanation for solar eclipses in Chinese myth)
- Angels (since sun > light/sky > heaven > angels)
- Aliens/cosmic entities (Since the sun is a star, and stars = spaaaaaaaace)
- Stuff like Pyron (Because why the hell not?)
- EDIT: Kaiju (since the sun is basically a big ol' nuclear reactor anyway. Nuclear Master Spark breath!)
Maybe mythological creatures from desert areas work too. They're searing under the sun anyway. Stuff like djinn and rocs.
I hope this will help you along the way. A lot of them are a bit silly, but maybe they'll give you ideas. :derp:

EDIT: I just realized you could use the animals and creatures from the Western or Eastern Zodiacs too. They're made up of stars after all.

Hanzo K. · « **Reply #118 on:** March 24, 2013, 05:12:50 PM »

There's also Mesopotamian myths you can look into as well!

Iced Fairy · « **Reply #119 on:** May 20, 2013, 05:47:43 AM »

So I commissioned Stuffman for the water version and he has delivered some excellent work. Labeling this one just to be super extra safe though nothing is showing except slime.

[nsfw]http://i.imgur.com/iFGazbX.png[/nsfw]